SAN DIEGO -- The attorney for a Las Vegas lobbyist accused of conspiring with three councilmen in a scheme to trade money for the repeal of San Diego's "no-touch" law will gave his closing argument Tuesday.

The argument by Dominic Gentile, who represents Lance Malone, will precede the prosecution's rebuttal argument, then the case will go to the jury.

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Malone was charged with councilmen Ralph Inzunza, Michael Zucchet and Charles Lewis in August 2003 with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and extortion. Malone was also charged with interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

Strip club owner Michael Galardi, who hired Malone, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in September 2003 and testified against his co-defendants.

Lewis died last August of complications from liver disease.

One of his aides, David Cowan, was charged with making a false statement to the FBI.

Zucchet's attorney, Jerry Coughlan, argued Monday that Zucchet was ready to give up on the "no-touch" issue until informant Tony Montagna -- at the direction of the FBI -- told Malone he had "inside information" that there was disagreement within the police ranks over the effectiveness of "no-touch."

The FBI could have sat back and seen what happened, but they didn't, Coughlan said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Rice argued last week that the three councilmen denied the citizens of San Diego the right to honest services by taking money in exchange for work to repeal "no-touch" and covering it up.

Rice said Malone, Inzunza and Zucchet had stories prepared in case anyone questioned them as to why they were working to change the law.

The defendants also came up with a "sham" issue of having a "concerned citizen" speak to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee about extending the distance between schools, churches and adult clubs, the prosecutor said.

Ten days after the April 30, 2003, committee meeting, Zucchet met with a deputy city attorney who told him the distance extension issue wasn't viable, Coughlan said.

"(Zucchet) said, `This isn't going anywhere'," his attorney told the jury. "He kills it. The notion that this is a sham stretches our credulity."

The heart of the government's case against the councilmen was the notion that the "no-touch" issue could be "slipped in" at the last minute before the full city council, Coughlan said.

"There's no evidence that could have happened," Coughlan told the jury.

The issue would have to have been docketed and full public notice given, the attorney said.

Coughlan said there was no explicit agreement among the councilmen to accept money from Galardi in return for their efforts to repeal "no-touch."

Galardi testified that he gave Malone $6,000 in cash and $10,000 in cash on another occasion in early 2003 to split among the councilmen.

Coughlan said FBI surveillance tapes proved that didn't happen.

In February 2003, Zucchet was very clear when he told Malone that police needed to support the idea of repealing "no-touch," Coughlan said.

"He said, `I am not promising anything here. I don't even want you to be too optimistic'."