City files lawsuit claiming RCI is violating SOB regulations

At the time, Langan said he
planned to open a casino with
a nightclub and steakhouse in
the three-story building that
once housed Joey Scarlett’s
Casino and, before that, a
Bullwhackers Casino. How­
ever, in June 2024, Langan
announced that he had with­
drawn his application for a ca­
sino license with the Colorado
Division of Revenue.

ments for any Sexually
Oriented Business that
wanted to open.

Continued from page 1

kind of sexually oriented busi­
ness, that regularly violates
the licensing requirement, the
hours regulation, and conduct
restrictions.” It also cites com­
pany advertising, in which
“Rick’s Cabaret describes
itself as “a premier three-
story destination combining
upscale dining and world-
class adult entertainment.”
Additional documentation on
the local businesses’ website
describes the place as the
“Strip Club in Central City.”

In the past two years,
RCI has been the sub­
ject of several lawsuits
involving its nightclubs
in Texas, Denver and
New York. The larg­
est of these occurred in
September 2025, when
New York Attorney Gen­
eral Letitia James filed
a lawsuit that indicted
Langan and four other
RCI executives. James
and a grand jury con­
cluded that RCI engaged
in a “multimillion-dollar
criminal tax fraud and
bribery scheme … to
avoid paying over $8
million in sales taxes to
the state and New York
City between 2010 and
2024.”

Mayor Jeremy Fey is the
only remaining city alderman
in office who voted to sell the
building. He later came under
public scrutiny after accepting
a free trip with Langan aboard
RCI’s jet to the company’s
headquarters in Houston.
The two, who acknowledged
a friendship, also attended an
NFL game between the Hous­
ton Texans and the Denver
Broncos in RCI’s private box.
Langan also provided Fey
with a sales-based lease for a
storefront purchased by RCI
at 127 Main St.

Because the entertainers
inside the building “regularly
expose their buttocks, bare
female breasts, and often their
pubic regions, both on and
off-stage,” Rick’s Cabaret is
considered a “Sexually Ori­
ented Business” under Central
City’s Land Development
Code, the lawsuit alleges. “Yet,
defendants [RCI] violate the
SOB Code by allowing enter­
tainers to expose specified
anatomical areas when they
are not on a permanent and
non-movable stage. Defen­
dants’ entertainers regularly
engage in the “fondling or
other erotic touching of hu­
man genitals, buttocks, anus
or female breasts” (a specified
sexual activity) with other en­
tertainers as well as patrons.”

The lawsuits are be­
lieved to have prompted
Langan to step down
from his role as RCI’s
CEO and President in
November.

Following the initial pub­
lic complaints in 2024, Fey
recused himself from all
council discussions related to
RCI. However, in 2025, Fey
changed his mind and again
began participating in RCI-
related discussions.

Last summer, several
Central City residents
and council members
continued to oppose
Rick’s Cabaret, saying
it didn’t meet zoning
regulations and raised
concerns about morality
and safety, including the
type of clientele it would
attract to the city, which
relies on Gilpin County
for sheriff’s patrol deputies
since the city disbanded its
police department nearly a
decade ago.

After RCI purchased 130
Main Street and several ad­
ditional buildings in Central’s
History Downtown Gaming
district, Langan and Reese be­
came regulars and frequently
attended community events.
The Council appointed Lan­
gan to a seat on the Central
City Downtown Development
Authority. Around the same
time, Reese was elected to the
board of the Central City Busi­
ness Improvement District.

The corner of Spring and Main streets and the Central City Parkway
has been the site of controversy in Central City for three years
after RCI and Eric Langan bought the property from the city and
announced it would be a casino with a nightclub and steakhouse.

RCI and its related compa­
nies, along with Langan and
Reese, are required to re­
spond to the lawsuit within 21
days if they are in Colorado;
within 35 days if they are out
of state.

litigation related to the RCI
situation.

and December. The lawsuit
was filed one week after coun­
cil’s final meeting of 2025 on
Dec. 16.

On Nov. 4, Central voters
delivered council a clear mes­
sage against changing the city
code, voting 153-113 to keep
existing regulations in place.
Since then, council hasn’t
publicly discussed the issue at
its meetings in late November

A court date will be sched­
uled after the defendants
respond to the lawsuit.

(Editor’s note: RCI In­
terim President Travis Reese
didn’t respond to the Weekly
Register-Call’s request for
comment or a response to the
lawsuit.)

However, in September,
Fey succeeded in winning a
3-2 council decision to place
a referendum on the Nov. 4
ballot, asking voters whether
the council should change
the city code to allow Sexu­
ally Oriented Businesses to
operate on Main Street.

* * *
Despite the city’s lawsuit,
Rick’s Cabaret continued to
advertise its Christmas Day
hours and New Year’s Eve
events on its local website and
Facebook pages. The business
describes itself as “Central
City’s top-rated gentlemen’s
club,” open from 6 p.m. to 4
a.m. Thursday through Sun­
day. It also advertises on three
city-owned billboards along
the Central City Parkway.

In August 2024, RCI sued
Central City in a federal court
in Denver after the council
upheld an administrator’s
decision regarding the Rick’s
building. The company
dropped the lawsuit a year
later, after Rick’s Cabaret and
Steakhouse opened in late
June.