Seattle- Three of the four central figures in the Strippergate scandal pleaded not guilty to several campaign contribution violations yesterday.

The fourth, strip-club magnate Frank Colacurcio Sr., didn’t appear because he was hospitalized Monday for “emergency surgery,” his lawyer said.

Frank Colacurcio Jr., Gil Conte and Marsha Furfaro each pleaded not guilty to several counts of what Prosecutor Norm Maleng has termed “political money laundering,” campaign contributions allegedly designed to persuade several Seattle City Council members to vote to allow Rick’s — a Lake City strip club operated by Colacurcio Jr. — to expand its parking lot.

The four are accused of illegally funneling thousands of dollars of campaign contributions, through relatives, friends and business associates, to three City Council incumbents before the 2003 election.

The arraignment of Colacurcio Sr., 88, was delayed until Aug. 1. His attorney, Irwin Schwartz, has said his client will also plead not guilty.

Schwartz said at the hearing that Colacurcio Sr. remained in intensive care — though afterward he declined to say what his client was being treated for.

The next hearing for the other three defendants is Aug. 2.

John Wolfe, Colacurcio Jr.’s attorney, said after the hearing in King County Superior Court that he expected to challenge prosecutors’ legal authority to bring the charges. They were filed under a broad criminal statute regarding filing false documents. That statute, said Wolfe, has never before been used in this type of prosecution.

Colacurcio Sr. was charged with two counts of violating the false-reporting law; his son, 43, with three counts; Conte, 71, with six counts; and Furfaro, 65, with two counts. Those crimes are Class C felonies, punishable by up to a year in jail.

All four defendants also were charged with conspiring to file the false campaign finance reports, a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.