Former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone pleaded guilty Monday on corruption charges stemming from the so-called “Strippergate” scandal involving payoffs to county officials by a strip club owner.
Malone had pleaded innocent but after signing a deal with the government last week, he agreed to change his plea to guilty to one count of conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act of RICO, the Review-Journal reported.
Malone reportedly changed his plea after prosecutors dropped their demand that he admit to accepting bribes from strip club owner Michael Galardi, who was convicted in the case earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks is scheduled to sentence Malone on Dec. 18.
Daniel Schiess, assistant U.S. attorney said he will prove Malone accepted bribes while serving on the commission from 1996 to 2000, possibly giving the judge reason to hand down a tough sentence on the 44-year-old defendant.
Under the plea deal, prosecutors agreed that Malone’s sentence would run concurrently with a three-year term he received in San Diego recently for bribing three city councilmembers.
By changing his plea, Malone admitted he paid off fellow commissioners Dario Herrera, Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and former commissioner Erin Kenny.
Judge Hicks said Malone could face a maximum of 20 years in prison, but cautioned that regardless what sentence he gets, the plea deal bars him from appealing the sentence.
Malone’s guilty plea means he would forfeit up to $750,000 and be fined up to $250,000.
Strip club owner Galardi, who pleaded guilty early in the case in a plea deal with prosecutors, was ordered to forfeit $3.8 million and sell his clubs.
