THE MIKE McDONALD CONNECTION
Provided as a public service by Steve
Miller
Mar. 01, 2009
Copyright
© Las Vegas Review-Journal
JOHN L. SMITH: Grand jury investigation of McDonald keeps
Rizzolo in hot seat
If Rick Rizzolo dreamed of living happily ever
after, he was only kidding himself. He must know that by now. He was recently
served with a subpoena compelling his testimony before a federal grand
jury in a brewing Internal Revenue Service tax case against his friend,
former Las Vegas City Councilman and ex-Metro police officer Michael McDonald.
Unless defense attorney Tony Sgro can figure a way to get that subpoena
quashed, I'm hearing Rizzolo will receive limited immunity from prosecution
and be ordered to answer questions about his long relationship with McDonald.
May 24, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
JOHN
L. SMITH: On Frank Cremen entering the DA's race: Better late than
never
Cremen used McDonald's case as an example of a
councilman who was found to be receiving $5,000 a month from topless bar
owner Rick Rizzolo and appeared to be running interference
for his friend. Cremen said he believes the district attorney should take
a more pro-active approach in such cases and issue subpoenas. "If the police
department knows you have a DA who will work with them, stand up and draw
a line and try to protect the line and not just be pushed over, I think
you'll have more law enforcement action," he said.
KLAS-TV News
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press
Vegas Councilman Caught Up In
FBI Probe Loses Re-Election
(June 3, 2003) -- McDonald, who has been caught up
in a federal probe involving possible corruption, is congratulating Moncrief
for a hard-fought victory. But his campaign manager says the timing of
the FBI investigation was horrible and it hurt their efforts. McDonald
is one of four current or former public officials named in a search warrant
served at a local strip club last month. The warrant says authorities were
looking for records about "payments or gifts" to the officials by the club's
owners. McDonald has denied any wrongdoing and says he is NOT a target
of the investigation.
Mob
Connections May End Vegas Councilman's Career
AmericanMafia.com
April 14, 2003
Then something amazing happened. The straight shooter cop started wearing
a $20,000 Rolex President watch, Italian silk suits, and driving several
expensive new SUV's while his absences at the police station caught his
superior's attention. But that was not the end of the transformation. McDonald
joined an expensive social club, and moved into a half million dollar golf
course villa owned by Bobbette Tegano, the mother in law of Joey Cusumano,
a member of Nevada's Black Book of persons banned from entering casinos.
He also proudly accepted the nickname "Flash," after it was coined by one
of his new friends. |
Mike's
Rolex Ticks Off His Final Minutes In Government
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
American Mafia.com
May 19, 2003
Mike's Rolex President, value
used: $25,000
Only in Vegas could a humble 33 year old police officer who had the good
fortune to be elected to the City Council get away with flashing an expensive
watch and not have to explain the circumstances behind its acquisition. |
McDonald calls hoodlum a "Pillar of the community."
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Former
councilman buys his first home
By BRIAN HAYNES
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Former City Councilman Michael McDonald bought his first home Friday, a
day before it was scheduled for auction. McDonald said he paid between
$500,000
and $700,000 for the home at 2520 Pinto Lane, near Rancho and Alta
drives. He declined to be more specific... Before the election, McDonald
acknowledged he was a paid consultant to strip club owner Michael Galardi,
who would later plead guilty to federal corruption charges. McDonald has
not been charged with any crimes in the investigation, which ensnared several
other local officials, including former County Commissioner Erin Kenny,
who recently bought a $869,000 house in Summerlin.
The
house that Mikey built
Another Vegas politico bites the dust,
but this time it may not be gold dust.
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
January 31, 2005
.
Mayor
Oscar Goodman consoles
Councilwoman-elect Lois Tarkanian consoles
Mike McDonald
on election loss, 2003
Janet Moncrief after being recalled
on 1/25/05
(Click
onLV Review-Journal photo by K.M. Cannon)
LAS VEGAS - In Sin City politics, no bad deed
ever went un-rewarded -- until now.
Steve Miller writes nationally syndicated columns on organized
crime and political corruption for
AmericanMafia.com, and
TwistedBadge.com
Visit his website
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