(8/8/99)
SPARKS, Nev. -- Look elsewhere for love, cowboys. The bunkhouse at the Mustang Ranch will be empty today.
The storied house of ill repute -- bane of IRS regulators, boon to local tax collectors and embarrassment to the local clergy -- finally will be padlocked by the government today after legally trading in flesh and fantasies for generations.
``I'm not mad at the government,'' said Honey, a willowy brunette, after guiding one of her final tricks to the brothel's locked, wrought-iron front gate Sunday afternoon. ``I'm mad at Joe.''
So is the IRS. ``Joe'' is Joe Conforte, the defiant mastermind behind the success -- and downfall -- of the brothel. The gravel-voiced former Oakland cabbie started his then-illegal business in 1955 in a single-wide trailer, keeping the tractor attached so he could quickly pull his mobile cathouse to whatever nearby county was hassling him the least.
His associates call him pugnacious, shrewd, flamboyant and charitable -- he once gave free nights of sex to Operation Desert Storm soldiers, has donated 1,000 turkeys to the poor each Christmas, regularly supported telethons and local non-profit groups, and is a singer in the church choir.
He's also a fugitive in South America, presumably Brazil, having fled the country to avoid prosecution. Last August, he was among those indicted for allegedly bamboozling the government by buying back his brothel at a huge discount under dummy corporations when the IRS auctioned it off for back taxes.
Last month, a federal jury convicted the corporations that own the brothel and Shirley Colletti, a former Mustang madam and former county commissioner, of concealing Conforte's ownership. The property was forfeited to the federal government.
``At about noon (Monday), we basically close. And at 5 o'clock, we turn the keys over to the government,'' George Flint, a spokesman for the ranch and executive director of the Nevada Brothel Owners trade group, said Sunday, adding the thin caveat that defense attorneys have requested a reprieve from a federal judge. A hearing on that request could come as soon as today. ``But we have no visions of grandeur that we're going to stay open,'' Flint conceded.
For years, thousands of lovelorn, or just lustful, men have traveled the 10 miles east from Reno to the tile-roofed, pink stucco brothel set amid Storey County, population 3,500. Surrounded by high ponderosa and scrub-dotted desert, the entrance bleats out in pink and white lights: ``World Famous Mustang Ranch.'' At the back side, the lights invite those leaving to ``Come again.''
At 2 a.m. Sunday, the parking lot was nearly full, a last-chance rush for some to sample the sensual pleasures offered at Nevada's first and best-known legal bordello.
Inside, some men steeled their nerves at the bar. Others did other things -- in places such as the ranch's dungeon or its VIP lounge, complete with hot tub.
``Everybody is upset over the closing,'' said one taxi driver after dropping off a fare from Reno, a regular run for him and his colleagues. ``If you close it, the prostitutes will be on the street.''
Other customers gave similar warnings, or just said it was a shame. ``It's safe, it's clean,'' said a man who declined to give his name, ``and sometimes we just come here for a beer and to enjoy the `scenery.' ''
Flint, however, insisted that none of the women would become streetwalkers. Some already had landed work at other legal brothels or simply would take a vacation before sorting out the future. One woman told Flint she'd return to her home in Pennsylvania and work as an escort.
By Sunday afternoon, most of the prostitutes were packing their things into their cars or waiting cabs. ``Can you pull the mirrors down from my room?'' one hooker asked the ranch's handyman.
Some were crying. Some were pulling a last-minute trick. Most already had left.
Honey -- the prostitute bitter at Conforte, for, she contends, fouling up a good business with his tax problems -- said she would try to work at another house for a few weeks. If she didn't like it there, she said, she would join the Peace Corps.
``It sucks,'' she said of the legal machinations that have forced her and her friends to move on, though she added playfully, ``Just like I do.''
It's not only the 75 ``working girls'' -- independent contractors at the ranch -- who will lose their jobs, said Honey, dressed in only a white bra, white panties and a lace translucent skirt. The staffers and others in the community who handle such chores as bringing them groceries and doing their wash will suffer as well. A few minutes later, the ranch's 80-year-old Avon lady dropped by for a final visit; she's been selling to the women twice a week for years.
`Breaking up a family'
Melissa, dressed for work, said shutting down the ranch was like ``breaking up a family. We don't know when we're going to see each other again.''
She also holds no grudge against the government. ``They're just doing their job like we're doing ours,'' she said.
The closing of the ranch -- including the Mustang Ranch 2 next door, a less opulent overflow building -- may bring pleasure to the local clergy who have been railing against the pleasure palaces for years, but it brings nothing but heartache to some local politicians.
``I think it's a damn shame that they're closing it, I really do,'' Carl Tink, vice chairman of the Storey County Commission, said Sunday. ``They're good neighbors, and we get a good percentage of our fees from them.''
The brothel pays about $400,000 into the county's coffers, a good share of the county's nearly $8 million budget. He hopes another brothel will replace it, but the federal government likely will demand the property be used for other purposes. ``I'll have to find something else to do on Saturday nights.'' he said.
Nothing will happen to the site until at least Sept. 1, when the time for appeals expires.
For now, the buildings are nearly empty. By tonight, a federal agent is expected to walk through the brothel to make sure no one remains.
It may seem odd that Conforte's business didn't survive this last fight. It's been burned to the ground twice, bankrupt and once run by the government, but it has always come back to do a land-office business.
Mustang led the way
In 1971, the Mustang Ranch became the state's first government-sanctioned bordello, leading to the legalization of prostitution in several parts of Nevada.
About 10 years later, Conforte fled to Brazil after being convicted of tax evasion, but he returned after two years in a deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office to testify against a supposedly corrupt federal judge, Harry Claiborne, who was later impeached.
Conforte subsequently spent less than two years in prison to complete his sentence.
In 1982, according to published reports, the bordello came under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, operating under court supervision as it tried to pay off debts. Twice, the owners failed to sell the business through stock offerings.
``Joe was never that religious about paying his taxes,'' Flint deadpanned Sunday.
In fact, in 1990, the federal government seized the state's largest brothel to try to help pay its delinquent taxes. And it even went as far as to propose that government employees run the brothel in an effort to keep the business afloat. Finally, it auctioned off the brothel's goods, some of them as souvenirs.
In 1992, the bordello supposedly was taken over by new ownership, A.G.E. Corp. But the government argued successfully this year that Conforte, using his associates as fronts, successfully bought back the corporation for pennies on the dollar, escaping his huge tax burden.
The defense claimed Conforte was only a consultant, never an owner sharing profits.
Even as the government is poised to shut down the brothel, at least one prostitute is hopeful that the Mustang Ranch will rebound again.
``You never know,'' she said as she shared a few final moments with her departing colleagues. ``We might be back here again.''