CARSON CITY, Nev.—Nevada gambling regulators are recommending a $50,000 fine and a 6-month suspension of a slot machine license to resolve a complaint alleging that several patrons in a Las Vegas gay bar engaged in sex acts in public areas of the bar.

The settlement signed by Snick’s Place owner Dominick Vitale and state Gaming Control Board members would resolve a 7-count complaint filed in December. Each count is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000. Also, the club’s license for up to 15 slot machines could have been revoked.

The proposed settlement with Vitale and Snick’s, which advertises itself as the oldest gay bar in Las Vegas, dating to 1976, will be reviewed by the board’s parent state Gaming Commission at a March 19 meeting in Las Vegas.

Besides the fine and suspension, the settlement allows for a second license suspension of up to six months if another “significant issue or incident” occurs. Also, video surveillance camera upgrades are required.

Vitale’s attorney, Bob Lueck, has said Vitale wasn’t in the bar when the alleged activity occurred, and after getting reports of the activity he fired a bartender and took other steps to prevent future occurrences. Lueck added that Vitale cooperated with authorities, turning over security videotapes.

The complaint, based on observations by an undercover Control Board agent between late April and mid-June 2008, states that in one case two patrons had intercourse in a public area of
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the bar, and in other cases patrons were seen engaging in other sex acts.

The Control Board said the failure of bar employees to stop the activity “constitutes an unsuitable method of operation and, as such, is grounds for disciplinary action” under Gaming Commission regulations.

The various sexual activities by patrons tend to reflect “poorly on the reputation of gaming in the state of Nevada,” the complaint added.