{"id":453,"date":"2019-02-14T16:10:26","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T16:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/?p=453"},"modified":"2019-02-14T17:52:10","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T17:52:10","slug":"former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/","title":{"rendered":"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Sheriff Al McNeil (l) and ETAP’s Jason Guinasso (r)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(Amy Alonzo | Mason Valley News)<\/em> – Former Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil was the largest campaign contributor to the End Trafficking and Prostitution political action committee before the 2018 election, campaign finance records show.<\/p>\n

McNeil made contributions totaling $1,499. Each of McNeil’s two contributions were under $1,000, which avoided mandatory reporting before the election under state campaign finance law. He contributed $500 on April 13 and $999 on Aug. 30.<\/p>\n

The Nevada Secretary of State\u2019s office requires PACs and political candidates to periodically report financial donations they receive. For the 2018 election season, reports were due May 22, June 8, Oct. 16 and Nov. 2, 2018, and Jan. 15, 2019.<\/p>\n

While individual contributions under $1,000 do not need to be reported, when a series of contributions combined exceed $1,000 they must be disclosed in the final report, said Wayne Thorley, deputy secretary of state for elections. That final report came out in January. No other donors contributed more than $1,000 to the anti-brothel PAC.<\/p>\n

That means during the election season, people looking at End Trafficking and Prostitution’s donations were unable to see that McNeil had contributed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey aren\u2019t cumulative until they do this annual report,\u201d Thorley said. But, \u201cpeople are smart, and they know what the threshold is.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNeil, who retired from the sheriff\u2019s office at the end of the year after losing the 2018 election to Frank Hunewill, said he doesn\u2019t remember why he wrote a check for $999, one dollar under the amount that would have been reported during that period\u2019s financial statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at that number and said, ‘Why did I write $999?’ In all fairness, I look at that number, and I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McNeil said he was never questioned during his campaign about his donations to ETAP, but, \u201cI would have said ‘yes’ if somebody had asked me. \u2026 I look at those campaign contributions as exercising my First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April, an anti-brothel and anti-prostitution group, No Little Girl, filed a referendum with Lyon County asking voters to choose between shuttering the brothels or freezing the county\u2019s ability to regulate them.<\/p>\n

In response, Lyon County commissioners placed an advisory question on the November ballot asking voters if they supported closing the county\u2019s brothels. In exchange, No Little Girl withdrew its referendum. No Little Girl was a grassroots effort that later united with ETAP.<\/p>\n

When asked during the campaign whether he was affiliated with the No Little Girl group or if he had a stance on the referendum or advisory questions, McNeil declined to answer.<\/p>\n

Lyon County overwhelmingly voted in support of the brothels.<\/p>\n

Sheriff-backed compliance check of brothels ahead of election<\/strong><\/p>\n

In October, the Lyon County Sheriff\u2019s Office, in conjunction with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Department of Homeland Security investigators, conducted a work card compliance check on the brothels.<\/p>\n

The compliance check followed a four-month internal investigation into the prostitutes’ registration procedures, and McNeil gave a presentation on the investigation to Lyon County Commissioners just weeks before the November election.<\/p>\n

The audit said nearly one-third of the brothel workers showed indicators of human trafficking, and in his report to the commissioners, McNeil said there should be \u201can in-depth, thorough, detective-led investigation to determine if they were being trafficked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complaint filed against McNeil<\/strong><\/p>\n

A complaint was filed with the Nevada Secretary of State\u2019s office regarding McNeil\u2019s campaign contributions by Chuck Muth, a conservative blogger who also served as campaign manager for Lyon County brothel owner Dennis Hof.<\/p>\n

Hof ran for state Assembly before he died in October. Muth filed his complaint the first week of February, alleging the PAC didn\u2019t disclose the donations in a timely manner and that the lack of timeliness could have impacted the election.<\/p>\n

Muth claims ETAP, which is spearheaded by Reno attorney Jason Guinasso, should have reported those contributions in the third and fourth reports that were filed with the secretary of state\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

The Nevada Secretary of State\u2019s office is reviewing Muth\u2019s claims, according to Thorley.<\/p>\n

Guinasso, who also served as legal counsel for No Little Girl, declined to comment to the Mason Valley News.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of \u2026 Mr. Guinasso\u2019s experience as a lawyer and a candidate for public office in Nevada, I would suggest this omission was both knowing and willful \u2013 especially in light of the fact that Mr. Guinasso himself previously reported similar \u2018cumulative\u2019 donations for his Assembly race in 2016 that exceeded the disclosure threshold,\u201d Muth wrote in his complaint.<\/p>\n

Guinasso ran for state assembly in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would further suggest that the unusual amount of the second donation of $999 \u2014 exactly one dollar under the disclosure \u2018trigger\u2019 amount \u2013 that both the donor and the PAC colluded in an intentional effort to hide the donor\u2019s identity from the public before the election on November 6, 2018 due to the donor\u2019s elected position as sheriff of Lyon County and his duties in regulating and enforcing the county\u2019s brothel ordinances,” Muth said in the complaint.<\/p>\n

McNeil disagrees.<\/p>\n

“Most people knew where I stood,” he said. “When you put that uniform and badge on, you put those biases aside and have to enforce the law. I really take offense to Chuck Muth, who is acting like a thug.”<\/p>\n

Click here for link to original article<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Amy Alonzo | Mason Valley News) – Former Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil was the largest campaign contributor to the End Trafficking and Prostitution political action committee before the 2018 election, campaign finance records show. McNeil made contributions totaling $1,499. Each of McNeil’s two contributions were under $1,000, which avoided mandatory reporting before the election […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC - Nevada Brothel Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC - Nevada Brothel Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Amy Alonzo | Mason Valley News) – Former Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil was the largest campaign contributor to the End Trafficking and Prostitution political action committee before the 2018 election, campaign finance records show. McNeil made contributions totaling $1,499. Each of McNeil’s two contributions were under $1,000, which avoided mandatory reporting before the election […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nevada Brothel Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-14T16:10:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-14T17:52:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil-1024x448.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"NBA Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"NBA Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/\",\"name\":\"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC - Nevada Brothel Association\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil-1024x448.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-14T16:10:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-14T17:52:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/874c6868ebe8a54d9c426fab5eaf4758\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil.jpg\",\"width\":1052,\"height\":460,\"caption\":\"Sheriff Al McNeil (l) and ETAP's Jason Guinasso (r)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/\",\"name\":\"Nevada Brothel Association\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/874c6868ebe8a54d9c426fab5eaf4758\",\"name\":\"NBA Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07de3286071ff0dc51886e2178747746?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07de3286071ff0dc51886e2178747746?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"NBA Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/author\/nba-staff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC - Nevada Brothel Association","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC - Nevada Brothel Association","og_description":"(Amy Alonzo | Mason Valley News) – Former Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil was the largest campaign contributor to the End Trafficking and Prostitution political action committee before the 2018 election, campaign finance records show. McNeil made contributions totaling $1,499. Each of McNeil’s two contributions were under $1,000, which avoided mandatory reporting before the election […]","og_url":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/","og_site_name":"Nevada Brothel Association","article_published_time":"2019-02-14T16:10:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-14T17:52:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil-1024x448.jpg"}],"author":"NBA Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"NBA Staff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/","url":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/","name":"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC - Nevada Brothel Association","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil-1024x448.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-14T16:10:26+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-14T17:52:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/874c6868ebe8a54d9c426fab5eaf4758"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Guinass-McNeil.jpg","width":1052,"height":460,"caption":"Sheriff Al McNeil (l) and ETAP's Jason Guinasso (r)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/former-sheriff-was-highest-contributor-to-anti-prostitution-pac\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former sheriff was highest contributor to anti-prostitution PAC"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/","name":"Nevada Brothel Association","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/874c6868ebe8a54d9c426fab5eaf4758","name":"NBA Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07de3286071ff0dc51886e2178747746?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07de3286071ff0dc51886e2178747746?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"NBA Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/author\/nba-staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457,"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453\/revisions\/457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadabrothelassociation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}