“Is Joe Conforte a crook? Absolutely he is. He did everything we said he did. Extortion, conspiracy, bribery, racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud; he is guilty of it all. He’s a crook, but he is a brilliant crook. The man stayed a step ahead of us the entire time. I worked that case for thirteen years… He slid right through and out of the country.”
Former IRS Special Investigator Kemp Shiffer, 2004
Referring to Joe Conforte: “There are few, if any, other individuals who would be in a better position to know about corruption in the State of Nevada.”
U.S. Asst. Attorney General D. Lowell Jensen, 1981
“I don’t know whether any other human being on the face of the earth could operate the Mustang Ranch and any other prostitution house in Nevada and get away with it all the years that he has. I just don’t know. I don’t like to impugn the integrity of public officials, but obviously he operates by their sufferance.”
Federal judge Roger D. Foley (Nevada), 1978
“In my mind, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m not hurting anybody. In fact, I’m giving pleasure to people. So why should I be perturbed and ask God if I can do this, if I can do that? Why should I be afraid of God if in my light I’m doing good and no harm? If I’m wrong, and in some way I’ve violated my oath, my promise, my trust in God, whatever it is, all I can say is that I’ll find out. “