County prosecutor launches criminal probe into "Strippergate"

By Jim Brunner and Steve Miletich
Seattle Times staff reporters

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Dan Satterberg, Maleng's chief of staff, said yesterday that prosecutors want to know whether laws were broken in the so-called "Strippergate" scandal surrounding contributions tied to Seattle strip-club magnate Frank Colacurcio Jr.

The decision ensures more investigative firepower will be brought to bear on Colacurcio and his dealings with the council. Prosecutors have subpoena power and can use a special inquiry-court judge who can compel witness testimony.

Although there is no evidence that the three council members who received the contributions broke any laws, prosecutors plan to look at whether Colacurcio or others participated in a scheme to improperly influence them.

A key point of inquiry is likely to be whether Colacurcio or partners illegally funneled donations through dozens of associates.

It is illegal to conceal the true source of campaign funds by reimbursing another person for political contributions.

Before yesterday, Maleng's office had said only that it was conducting a preliminary review and no decision had been reached on whether to conduct a full investigation.

The "Strippergate" controversy erupted last year when it was revealed that Councilman Jim Compton and then-council members Judy Nicastro and Heidi Wills had accepted at least $39,000 in campaign contributions from Colacurcio and his associates before the council approved a controversial rezone of a Colacurcio club.

The three joined in a 5-4 majority voting in favor of a rezone that allowed Colacurcio to expand parking at Rick's strip club on Lake City Way, overturning past denials by the council and city land-use officials.

All three denied any wrongdoing in accepting the contributions but did pay ethics fines related to the lobbying effort by Colacurcio and his allies. Nicastro and Wills were defeated in last year's election.

Colacurcio's attorney, John Wolfe, said he welcomed an "independent investigation conducted by a fair-minded prosecutor, such as Norm Maleng." He said he was confident prosecutors will find no wrongdoing by his client.
 
Among those involved in lobbying the council members were former Gov. Albert Rosellini, who reportedly delivered Colacurcio-related contributions to Nicastro, and Gilbert Levy, a Seattle attorney who represented the Lake City club.

Rosellini's attorney, Angelo Calfo, declined comment. Levy's attorney, Mike McKay, a former U.S. attorney in Seattle, couldn't be reached for comment.

Prosecutors have declined to say what criminal laws might have been broken. But among the statutes prosecutors have examined are bribery, influence trading, and causing false campaign-finance information to be submitted on a public document, according to people familiar with the matter.

A yearlong investigation by the Seattle Ethics and Elections commission yielded evidence of civil campaign-law violations, particularly the admission by daughters of a Colacurcio employee that they'd been reimbursed for making $2,300 in contributions to Nicastro.

Stacee and Nicole Furfaro said their mother, Marsha Furfaro, had reimbursed them and told them that she'd been given a "bonus" at work to pay for it.

But the ethics panel has been hampered by the refusal of Colacurcio and others to be interviewed, citing fears their statements could be used against them by criminal prosecutors.

Essentially at an impasse, the ethics-commission staff in August proposed a $12,500 settlement with Colacurcio and Furfaro that would have ended its probe. But the seven-member citizen commission unanimously rejected the settlement.

Maleng's office had been under pressure to take up where the ethics commission left off. Last month, three former chairs of the ethics commission, Timothy Burgess, Daniel Ichinaga and Catherine Walker, wrote a lengthy article published in The Seattle Times laying out the lingering questions and urging Maleng to take action.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com