SAN DIEGO -- Jury deliberations will begin Wednesday morning in the council corruption trial of two San Diego city councilmen, a Las Vegas lobbyist and a council aide.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller will give the eight-man, four-woman jury about five minutes of final instructions, then the panel will retire to begin deciding the fate of councilmen Ralph Inzunza and Michael Zucchet, lobbyist Lance Malone and David Cowan, an aide to the late Councilman Charles Lewis.

In his closing rebuttal argument Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat said Inzunza, Zucchet and Lewis offered an "illogical story" that they didn't know strip club owner Michael Galardi was bribing them in return for their work to get rid of a "no-touch" law that was hurting his business.

"Absolutely they knew," Wheat told the jury. "They knew exactly what was going on."

Wheat's rebuttal ended five days of closing arguments in a trial that lasted 70 days.

The three councilmen, Malone, Galardi, Cheetah's San Diego manager John D'Intino and Cowan were indicted in August 2003.

Inzunza and Zucchet could face between three and four years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and extortion.

Malone faces the same charges, along with interstate travel in aid of racketeering, while Cowan is charged with making a false statement to the FBI.

Galardi and D'Intino pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud shortly after the indictments, and Galardi testified against his co-defendants.

Lewis died last year of complications from liver disease.

Dominic Gentile, Malone's attorney, told the jury that the case was a "story of deceit and counterfeit information," much of that attributed to FBI informant Tony Montagna.

Gentile said everyone who makes a contribution to a campaign wants access to a politician.

The attorney asked jurors to look at a point in time when a contribution was made to see if an explicit, clear promise was offered in exchange.

"The promise has to be explicit and clear the moment it's paid for," Gentile told the jury.

But Wheat said the agreement was complete at the time of the agreement.

The prosecutor said it was Inzunza's plan to get "no-touch" repealed.

Galardi paid thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and cash to the councilmen because the "no-touch" law was having a devastating effect on his business, the prosecutor said.

The law -- enacted in October 2000 -- made it illegal for dancers to have any physical contact with patrons at adult clubs. It has not been repealed.

Malone knew all along that Galardi was bribing the councilmen, Wheat told the jury. In 2002, he said, Galardi asked Malone who Zucchet was running against in the general election.

"We could bribe him, too," the strip club owner said in one of thousands of secretly recorded conversations.

Wheat said Malone was sent to San Diego by Galardi to get the "no-touch" law overturned, adding that the councilmen's interest in the ordinance was in response to the money delivered by Malone.

"The scheme that they took up was a crime," the prosecutor said. "Tell them enough is enough. ...Our City Hall is not for sale."