Today's theme is crime: awful, horrible, sleazy and stupid.

Let's start with a not very bright alleged gang member from Baltimore named Shamvoy Smith (though I like the alias attributed to him better: Don Papa). Wanted for a slaying back in Baltimore, according to the AP, Smith fled to Las Vegas, a town with cameras everywhere. Actually, the FBI keeps a fugitive task force staffed here, because so many idiot people like Smith love to flee to Vegas. Maybe, they think they can blend in here. But in this area casino security works very closely with authorities. If you are wanted for something serious and you go into a Strip casino, your chances of getting caught are outstanding. If only Warren Jeffs liked to work the poker rooms while his wives played the slots...

Oklahoma City bombing co-defendant Terry Nichols' 23-year-old son, Las Vegas resident Joshua Nichols, escaped a possible 22-year prison sentence drawing only 19 to 48 months for a series of charges including assault with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer and battery of an officer, all while driving a stolen car. What may make headlines on this one is the 18-page handwritten letter sent by Terry Nichols to District Judge Joseph Bonaventure begging for mercy for his son in the sentencing. The Review-Journal has posted the complete letter in which Nichols tells Bonaventure much about his perception of what he has done (in which he sees himself mostly as an innocent manipulated by Timothy McVeigh), announces he found God in prison, and demands that the investigation into the bombing be reopened to find others involved.

The Review-Journal is also reporting that Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo has signed a plea deal along with more than a dozen associates. As reported earlier on the Buffet, Rizzolo (pictured above left) has been investigated by authorities for more than a decade for alleged ties to organized crime. For all that work, Rizzolo seems to have gotten himself a pretty good deal: a $17 million penalty and up to 16 months of incarceration. Rizzolo says his club clears $10 million a year, so the damages should be easily affordable. BTW, the largest part of the $17 million is going to a tourist from Kansas City who alleges he was beaten into paralysis by Crazy Horse Too bouncers over a dispute involving a small bar tab.

Finally, also on the topless bar beat, it is time for Strippergate appeals. Lawyers for recently convicted former Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera have asked a judge to throw out the jury's verdict, arguing that the sex acts the jury decided Mr. Herrera received for his vote are not money and that the law requires actual cash for a conviction. Meanwhile, Las Vegas Weekly (where I am on staff) has bizarrely named Herrera one of the 15 most beautiful people in Las Vegas. This is probably not the best honor to win on your way to being incarcerated.

(Photo: Don Bartletti / LAT)