Brothel owner in Nevada faces federal corruption charge

[NVMojo]

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The owner of three southern Nevada brothels was charged Monday with trying to bribe a county commissioner to relax laws affecting bordellos.

Joseph Maynard Richards, 72, is accused of funneling $5,000 to a commissioner in rural Nye County in return for support for a law to let brothels be built closer to county roads and highways. He could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Richards told a judge he understood the wire fraud corruption charge on which he was arrested Saturday. Richards will plead not guilty, his lawyer said outside court.

snip...

Commission Chairwoman Candice Trummell, a Republican from Pahrump, confirmed for The Associated Press that she was the cooperating witness.

"I was told I never was a target of the investigation," the 27-year-old commissioner said, describing how she rewrote an ordinance "with Mr. Richards' interests in mind in exchange for the money."

snip...

Trummell said her discussions with Richards involved using the money to pay law school tuition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has not enrolled.

Flangas noted that the complaint describes a signed document under which Richards transferred the money to Trummell through his Richards Family Trust.

"I don't know if it was a loan or a gift," Flangas said. "But it was done aboveboard. It was not a quid pro quo."

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/mar/06/030610918.html

[XemaSab]

1. There's a book about brothels in Nye county

Called "Nye County Brothel Wars" and HOLY CRAP is it something else!