Former Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chaucey who was convicted of corruption in the so-called “Strippergate” scandal, said this week she is filing an appeal in her case.
Kincaid-Chauncey told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Thursday that she wants to clear her name and reputation.
Kincaid-Chauncey and fellow former Commissioner Dario Herrera were found guilty of accepting bribes from Michael Galardi, who owned the Cheetah’s and Jaguars strip clubs in Las Vegas. The two officials accepted the bribes in exchange for voting favorably on issues relating to the strip clubs.
The former official said she felt she had a better chance with jurors if they heard the evidence against her alone, instead of that involving Herrera. She complained that evidence against Herrera involving strippers having sex with him and other salacious stories tainted them against her.
Kincaid-Chauncey was sentenced to 30 months in prison and is scheduled to begin serving in January.
During the trial, Galardi had admitted that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars paying off judges, lawyers, police, elected and public officials as well as $200,000 he said he paid Herrera and the estimated $85,000 he claims he paid Kincaid-Chauncey.
But no other officials have been charged in the case.
Among the evidence heard by the jury were wiretap audio tapes where Herrera, Kincaid-Chauncey, political consultant Lance Malone and former commissioner Erin Kenny are heard discussing ways to derail a proposed ordinance that would limit what’s allowed inside strip clubs.
Prosecutors said Galardi paid Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey several thousand dollars a month in exchange for their votes on strip club issues.
