Links to organized crime sought in strip club raid

Fri, Feb 21, 2003 (11:24 a.m.)

The focus of a joint federal and local law enforcement raid on the Crazy Horse Too topless club was to locate evidence of connections to organized crime interests in New York and Illinois and seize financial records dating to 1995, according to a federal search warrant.

More than 80 officers for Metro, the FBI, the DEA and the IRS served the warrant Thursday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of illegal activity at the club and hidden ownership of the club by organized crime.

The search warrant states that agents were searching for "documents and records which would demonstrate the existence of tribute payments for the period of 1995 to the present made to LCN (La Cosa Nostra) families for allowing the Crazy Horse Too to operate in Las Vegas."

Cash registers, computers, paper files and other items were loaded onto two large trucks as the raid kept the club at 2476 S. Industrial Road shut down for 14 hours. Bookkeeping, income, inventory, tax and banking records in the forms of receipts, faxes, e-mails and mailings were among the items authorized for seizure.

Club attorney Tony Sgro said that more than 100 items from the club were taken in the raid.

"I haven't been through the entire inventory, but it was a large number of items," Sgro said. "For example, they may have marked a box of files as one item, even though there are hundreds of papers in that one box."

Club owner Rick Rizzolo could not be reached for comment Thursday or this morning.

Agents were also searching for drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine and GHB, a growth hormone, according to the warrant. In addition agents seized documents "tending to identify narcotics buyers and suppliers, including lists of names, buy/owe sheets, answering machines and answering machine tapes."

The FBI is also believed to be investigating allegations of beatings at the club. Kirk Henry, a Kansas City man, has filed suit against the club alleging that his neck was broken in a Sept. 20, 2001, altercation with a bouncer.

In January the club won a civil suit filed by the family of a California man found dead in a desert area near the Crazy Horse Too on Aug. 4, 1995. The family of Scott Fau alleged that he was beaten to death by the club's bouncers.

Sgro said that he was confident that there was no wrongdoing by the club, but said he did not like the way the raid was conducted or the unwanted attention he said it brought to the business.

"They had a search warrant, so they had a right to conduct a search, but I don't know that they had to come in with guns drawn," Sgro said. "They served a search warrant here 18 months ago and that was done in a much different manner with minimal interruption to business.

"There was a large law enforcement presence here during the previous search, but nothing like" Thursday.

FBI spokesman John Victoravich said the number of agents involved in operations is determined by the scope of the assignment.

"You want to be able to control the scene and make sure nothing happens," Victoravich said. "The size of the property and the scope of a search may also be a factor."

Using six cash registers borrowed from Western Cash Register, the club reopened about 7 p.m. Thursday, but club officials said that financial damage had already been done. Officials said that publicity from the raid may have scared off conventioneers in town for the Men's Apparel Guild Convention (MAGIC).

A group of about 10 men showed up at the club about 5 p.m., but they were turned away because the club still wasn't open.

"I guess we're going to have to go somewhere else," said one man from North Carolina who would not give his name.

FBI spokesman Special Agent Daron Borst said that any of the seized items that are determined to be inconsequential to the investigation will be returned to the club.

Borst would not comment further on the investigation or on the items that were taken in the raid. The raid was marked by agents armed with MP5 machine guns and shotguns.

The agents and Metro's SWAT team served the warrant about 5 a.m., when they rushed into the club. Customers were released and employees were allowed to leave after their identification and work cards were checked, Borst said.

News of the raid quickly spread to Rizzolo's friends and to neighboring businesses.

Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald said Thursday that he had not yet spoken to his close friend Rizzolo about the raid. Metro Police investigated McDonald in 2000 over his role in business dealings involving Rizzolo, but filed no charges.

"It's a little premature to do anything," McDonald said when asked about possible action by the council against the club. "We have to wait for the agencies to finish their investigation and see what the outcome is. Then the mayor and City Council will deal with it at that time."

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who once worked as Rizzolo's attorney, said that he didn't know much about the raid, but added that there had to be probable cause for U.S. Magistrate Peggy Leen to issue the warrant.

"In my past life (as a practicing lawyer), there were plenty of times that people were subjects of searches and no charges were ever filed," Goodman said.

When asked if he would represent Rizzolo again, Goodman said that would only be speculation at this point.

"I have said in the past I don't think it's a good idea for the mayor of Las Vegas to take any high-profile cases," Goodman said. The mayor has said he would consider working on a case with his son but has not said what that case might be.

"Buffalo" Jim Barrier, owner of a business next door to Crazy Horse Too, said that he hopes the raid will be the start of a comprehensive investigation into the club.

"There have been a lot of problems and a lot of 911 calls I've had to make," said Barrier, who owns Allstate Auto and Marine Repair and Buffalo Jim's Pro Wrestling School in the same strip mall as the Crazy Horse Too. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg and the beginning of the end for the Crazy Horse."

Barrier alleges that Rizzolo has tried to have Barrier's businesses shut down so that the Crazy Horse Too could expand. Barrier has leased property in the strip mall since 1978, and the Crazy Horse Too opened in 1984.

Rizzolo has been linked over the years to several organized crime figures, including Joseph Cusumano, once a top lieutenant of slain mob kingpin Anthony Spilotro. Rizzolo has said he no longer associates with Cusumano.

In 1999 Rizzolo was with reputed Chicago mob figure Fred Pascente when Pascente was arrested at McCarran International Airport, and last year Rizzolo won approval from the city to hire Albert Rapuano, a former casino executive once investigated for ties to organized crime.

Sun reporters

Judy Odierna and Jeff German contributed to this story.

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