Subpoenas issued to Nicastro donors

By Bob Young and Jim Brunner
Seattle Times staff reporters

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The action is part of an expanding investigation into possibly illegal campaign contributions related to the Rick's strip-club rezone.

The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission first requested informal interviews with all 21 donors but received no responses, said Harley Anders, the commission's acting director. So the commission mailed the subpoenas last week.

The subpoenas order donors to appear before the commission to answer questions and to provide any records relating to their contributions to Nicastro's campaign for re-election to the council.

"We're looking for information with regards to concealment of campaign contributions," Anders said. He would not elaborate, except to say he did not suspect all 21 donors of concealing donations.

People connected to Seattle strip-club magnate Frank Colacurcio Jr. and his father, Frank Colacurcio Sr., contributed nearly $39,000 last year to the re-election campaigns of three council incumbents at the time Colacurcio Jr. was seeking a rezone for Rick's strip club in Lake City.

The ensuing controversy, which led to ethics fines against Nicastro and two other council members, became known as "Strippergate."

The list of people issued subpoenas includes several people who have been long associated with the Colacurcios, including attorney Gil Levy, who handled the Rick's rezone, and Nick Furfaro, a longtime strip-club manager. Phil McKibben, Steve Fueston and Leroy Christiansen, who were subpoenaed along with their spouses, are all longtime business associates of the Colacurcios.

But the list also includes several people not previously named publicly in the investigation. Several of them each gave $650 to the Nicastro campaign June 7 last year — a day when Nicastro reported $25,000 in contributions.

The uproar over the contributions helped bring a shake-up of the City Council in last year's elections. Nicastro, who received most of the money, was defeated, along with Heidi Wills. Jim Compton was elected to a second term. Ethics investigators have said they do not think the council members knew of any illegal donations.

In February, charges of violating election laws were filed against longtime Colacurcio employee Marsha Furfaro, whose two daughters admitted their mother had reimbursed them for $2,300 in campaign contributions to Nicastro. The daughters received immunity in return for their cooperation.

Seattle election laws limit campaign contributions to $650 per donor. It is illegal for anyone to violate that limit by funneling money through other donors.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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