Nevada legal pimp, candidate, star of HBO series found dead

Dennis Hof, a pimp who gained notoriety for an HBO series about his brothel business and who fashioned himself as a Donald Trump-style Republican candidate for the state Legislature, was found dead hours after his 72nd birthday bash, authorities said Tuesday.

Hof was found unconscious and later pronounced dead in his private residence at his Love Ranch brothel west of Las Vegas, Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly told The Associated Press.

Wehrly, who also serves as county coroner, said she saw Hof at his birthday party late Monday at a local casino-hotel reception room with more than 100 of his friends, including former Phoenix-area sheriff Joe Arpaio.

FILE - In this March 25, 2007, file photo, Moonlite Bunnyranch brothel owner Dennis Hof poses with two of his "working girls" Brooke Taylor, left, and a woman working under the name "Airforce Amy", right, as firefighters burn down remains of the former Mustang Ranch 2 brothel east of Reno, Nev. Hof, a legal pimp who has fashioned himself as a Donald Trump-style Republican candidate has died, Nevada authorities said Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. (AP PhotoDebra Reid, file)

"He was sitting on a stool talking with people when I left about 10," Wehrly said. "I guess that's partying at 72."

The sheriff said there was no preliminary indication of foul play but her office was investigating. An autopsy will be conducted by the Clark County coroner in Las Vegas, she said.

Hof, who turned 72 on Sunday, was the Republican candidate in a heavily GOP state legislative district. He had said his party would be attended by porn star Ron Jeremy and Arpaio, the former six-term sheriff of metropolitan Phoenix.

FILE - In this June 26, 2008, file photo, owner Dennis Hof poses with some of his "working girls" in the parlor of his Moonlite BunnyRanch in Mound House, east of Carson City, Nev. Hof, a legal pimp who has fashioned himself as a Donald Trump-style Republican candidate has died, Nevada authorities said Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. (Lisa J. ToldaThe Reno Gazette-Journal via AP, File)

It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday if Jeremy attended, but Arpaio confirmed he had been at the party Monday night and was astounded to hear of Hof's death.

"Boy, that's shocking," Arpaio said.

The former sheriff, known nationally for his positions on illegal immigration, said Hof was in good spirits when Arpaio left the party around 10 p.m. Monday.

Arpaio, who lost a Senate GOP primary in Arizona in August, said he had taken part in some of Hof's campaign efforts and was asked by Hof to speak at the party. The lawman said he delivered his comments to the crowd, wished Hof well and ate birthday cake.

"The thing I liked about him: He was with Trump and was for the Second Amendment and lower taxes," Arpaio said in a telephone interview before boarding a plane to Phoenix.

Ahead of the birthday celebration, Hof teased on Twitter that rapper and reality television star Flavor Flav would be there.

But Flavor Flav's lawyer, Kristina Wildeveld, said Tuesday her client did not attend.

Wildeveld said Flavor Flav, now 59, appeared on a reality TV show with Hof. Drayton's "Flavor of Love" ran about a decade ago, about the same time as Hof's HBO series "Cathouse."

Hof owned a handful of brothels in Nevada, the only state that allows them to legally operate.

His Love Ranch brothel outside Pahrump is where NBA player Lamar Odom was found unconscious in 2015.

The brothel was temporarily shuttered twice this year by regulators who said Hof failed to renew licenses and get proper permits for renovations.

About 20 brothels operate in Nevada, mostly in rural areas. The state doesn't publicize how many are open, and most owners keep a lower profile than Hof.

In addition to his legislative campaign, Hof faced a push to outlaw brothels and had problems with local regulators in the two counties where he runs the licensed bordellos.

Hof had also been accused of sexual assault on at least four occasions. The Nevada Department of Public Safety has said it was investigating an allegation made in September but has released few details.

Hof had denied any wrongdoing.

Besides "Cathouse," the flamboyant Hof wrote a book titled "The Art of the Pimp," a play on Trump's book "The Art of the Deal."

Wayne Thorley, deputy Nevada secretary of state for elections, said Hof's name will remain on the November ballot. Thorley said ballots with Hof's name have already been printed and mailed to voters but signs will be posted at polling places notifying voters that he has died.

If Hof wins the election in the heavily GOP assembly district, officials in the counties that the district covers will nominate another Republican to fill the vacancy, Thorley said.

Hof was running against Democratic Las Vegas educator Lesia Romanov.

Hof also ran for office in 2016 as a Libertarian but lost the race.

This year, he ran as a Republican and earned backing from Trump associate Roger Stone and tax-cut activist Grover Norquist.

He upended Nevada politics this summer when he ousted an incumbent Republican lawmaker in a primary, celebrating at an election night party with "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss.

He said the anti-brothel push and regulatory problems he's faced this year were political retribution.

Associated Press writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has circulated a U.N. resolution calling on all countries to take urgent action to prevent putting weapons in outer space “for all time” a week after it vetoed a U.S.-Japan resolution to stop an arms race in space.

The Russian draft resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, goes further than the U.S.-Japan proposal, not only calling for efforts to stop weapons from being deployed in outer space but for preventing “the threat or use of force in outer space,” also “for all time.”

It says this should include deploying weapons “from space against Earth, and from Earth against objects in outer space.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council when he vetoed the U,S.-Japan draft that it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.

The vetoed resolution focused solely on weapons of mass destruction including nuclear arms, and made no mention of other weapons in space.

It would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that the U.S. and Russia ratified, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.

Before the U.S.-Japan resolution was put to a vote on April 24, Russia and China proposed an amendment that would call on all countries, especially those with space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”

The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes in the 15-member Security Council required for adoption.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”

Putin was responding to White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after casting the veto that the U.S.-Japan resolution cherry picked weapons of mass destruction.

He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”

Nebenzia also accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.

Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”

Much of the Russian draft resolution is exactly the same as the U.S.-Japan draft, including the language on preventing an arms race in space.

It calls on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space.”

Thomas-Greenfield said the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”

FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)