Davidson city plot alleged

Davidson’s lawyer may yet argue that such lunch meetings are the bread and butter of lobbying, but federal prosecutors contend Davidson was trying to cook up a corrupt relationship with McDonald.

McDonald’s community liaison, Douglas Rankin, who accompanied the councilman to the meeting, testified Monday that he left the restaurant with an unsettling feeling.

During Davidson’s corruption trial Monday, Rankin said that Davidson urged McDonald to vote in favor of zoning changes. Davidson also urged McDonald to lobby his fellow City Council members to do the same and talked of incentives for the approvals, Rankin testified.

"He (Davidson) said he had 50,000 units to split up; however, he (McDonald) needed to chop it up," Rankin testified.

What "50,000 units" meant was never explained, but prosecutors later made reference to $50,000.

The prosecution wrapped up its case late Monday after zeroing in on Davidson’s frustrations with McDonald, who Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess showed was of no help. One of the zoning changes sought by Davidson was withdrawn, and the City Council denied the other request.

Recordings of government-intercepted phone calls involving Davidson were played for the jury, and the recordings indicated that Davidson and former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone, who worked as a go-between for McDonald and Davidson, lost their patience with the council members’ lack of response to their lobbying efforts.

"I’m not going to take any more chances with these guys. All of the sudden they’re holier than thou," Malone told Davidson during a call intercepted in October 2002. "They must think I have a tape recorder on or something."

Davidson was indicted in 2005 on charges that he paid Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny $200,000 to push through a zoning change that allowed for a CVS Pharmacy on Desert Inn Road at Buffalo Drive.

A second indictment last year charged him with delivering $3,000 a month to Kenny for nearly three years after she led the commission to approve of a zoning change allowing for a neighborhood casino.

That second indictment also charged Davidson with attempting to bribe McDonald.

The government’s investigation of Davidson was triggered by phone calls intercepted during a inquiry into whether Clark County commissioners were pocketing cash bribes from strip club owner Michael Galardi.

Malone acknowledged he delivered thousands of dollars in cash to Kenny and commissioners Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey. Malone pleaded guilty to serving as Galardi’s bagman and is serving a six-year prison sentence.

Last year, Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey were convicted of taking bribes from Galardi. Earlier this year, they began serving their prison sentences. Kincaid-Chauncey was given a 30-month term, and Herrera was sentenced to 51 months. Galardi, who got a 30-month sentence, has been ordered to check into prison by Friday at the latest.

Kenny, who signed a plea deal and is cooperating with the government, is scheduled to be sentenced next week. She testified last week that Davidson rewarded her with $200,000 for the zoning change for the pharmacy in 2001.

Prosecutors allege that Davidson was hired by two different developers in 2001 and 2002 to help change zoning in the city and that because Davidson’s only influence at the time was with Kenny, a county commissioner, Malone suggested that he develop a relationship with Malone’s fellow former Las Vegas police officer McDonald to get an inside track at Las Vegas City Hall.

McDonald, who has not been charged with a crime, could not be reached for comment Monday. He has said that his attorney has advised him not to speak with the media.

Rankin said Monday that McDonald did not outwardly reject Davidson’s offer during the April 2002 lunch meeting.

"He was gracious and (said) he’d see what he could do," Rankin said.

McDonald called Malone after lunch.

"You’re going to be in the middle of this whole thing, that’s the one stipulation," McDonald told Malone, according to a phone call intercepted on April 19, 2002.

But by May, McDonald was not returning Davidson’s follow-up calls on the zoning matters. During a May 9, 2002, telephone conversation with Malone, McDonald indicated he was leery of Davidson’s comments. "The way he came across; not the way I operate," McDonald told Malone.

Malone called Davidson to determine how the real estate consultant broached the conversation about his zoning change requests.

"I approached him the same way I approached you," Davidson told Malone in the taped phone call. "I have five dimes to spread around."

Schiess told jurors that "five dimes" meant $50,000.

A week later, on May 17, 2002, Malone called Davidson to break the news that McDonald refused to lobby his colleagues on the zoning issues.

"He said he doesn’t want to get involved — at all," Malone said. "I guess you made him very nervous."

Davidson’s attorney, Dominic Gentile, quizzed Rankin about his concerns about the lunchtime discussion in April 2002. Gentile asked why Rankin did not call police if he believed Davidson was trying to bribe McDonald.

Rankin conceded he was not convinced Davidson’s offer was a bribe. He said that after three months passed, he took Davidson’s zoning application to Richard Wright, McDonald’s attorney, who later defended Kincaid-Chauncey during her corruption trial.

The zoning changes for which Davidson was seeking McDonald’s help were for land in the ward overseen by then-City Councilman Michael Mack. Mack opposed converting the land from residential to neighborhood commercial.

Developers John Hui and Tony Chow agreed to pay Davidson $20,000 in consulting fees if he could get the zoning changes approved. Both men testified that Davidson had a reputation for expediting such amendments.

Until 2004, Davidson served as vice president for Triple Five Nevada Development Corp., a North American company owned by the Canadian-based Ghermezian family.

In 2002, Davidson and Malone schemed to get Davidson appointed to the Clark County Planning Commission. Davidson saw it as a way to escape his job with Triple Five, he told Malone during an October 2002 telephone conversation.

"My wife is getting very, very upset with me with what I do every month," Davidson told Malone. "It’s creating a giant tax problem with me."

Earlier in the trial, Schiess showed jurors that Davidson did not report to the Internal Revenue Service hundreds of thousands of dollars he received from Triple Five owner Eskander Ghermezian.

On Friday, Mary Fornelli, a controller for Triple Five, said that Ghermezian directed her to cut checks for Davidson. They were listed as consulting fees or commission for projects, but invoices that typically detail the work were left blank, Fornelli said.