Harvey Whittemore

Frederick Harvey Whittemore (born August 17, 1952) is an American lawyer and businessman in the Reno, Nevada area.

As an influential lobbyist for the gambling, alcohol and tobacco industries, and for his own ventures, Whittemore was called "one of Nevada's most powerful men."

Frederick Harvey Whittemore was born in Carson City, Nevada, in 1952, and was raised in Nevada and Arizona.

He graduated from Sparks High School in Sparks, Nevada in 1970.

Whittemore and his wife Annette met at their college, the University of Nevada, Reno, and married in 1973.

Whittemore earned a J.D. degree from Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

Whittemore's first experience with politics was the 1978 Nevada gubernatorial race, during which he established contacts in the Nevada political scene.

He was hired by the law firm Lionel Sawyer & Collins as a lobbyist, where he advanced to senior partnership.

Whittemore frequently lobbied on behalf of industries including the Nevada casinos, liquor, and tobacco.

He was called one of the most powerful men in Nevada, the most powerful casino lobbyist, and "the Lance Burton" of lobbying.

State Senator William Hernstadt attributed Whittemore's success to his ability to command attention and respect, remarking, "when Harvey Whittemore speaks, the Nevada Senate listens."

Whittemore also lobbied for his own ventures, both business and non-profit.

First envisioned by Whittemore in the early 1990s, Coyote Springs is located in a large valley on the border of Clark County and Lincoln County and is slated to include 160,000 homes, twelve golf courses and several hotel-casinos.

Its total cost has been estimated at $30 billion.

The first golf course, designed by golfer Jack Nicklaus, opened in 2008.

Members of the Institute notably claimed in 2009 that a mouse virus was the cause of CFS.

The paper was retracted following widespread failure to replicate the finding, which was determined to be the result of laboratory contamination.

Whittemore's business partners filed a civil suit against Whittemore, accusing him of improperly using company resources to support the institute.

In 2012, Whittemore came under grand jury investigation, initiated by the Federal Election Commission, to determine whether he should be indicted for breaking federal campaign contribution laws.

His influence was diminished when the legality of his campaign contributions were scrutinized in 2012 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, leading the Las Vegas Review-Journal to write that he was "now a pariah."

Whittemore's land-development ventures included golf communities and Coyote Springs, a planned living community about 60 mi north of Las Vegas on 43000 acre of desert land.

Home construction was expected to begin in fall 2012.

Coyote Springs has been called a "marvel" and an "outrage."

Whittemore considered the development an opportunity "to create a beautiful place which is unique in the world."

Whittemore obtained land in the Coyote Springs Valley from a private owner but was unable to acquire all of the land or build on what he owned because of regulatory obstacles.

The desert land included a sanctuary for the desert tortoise, an endangered species, and some of the adjacent land was designated a wilderness study area.

A federal easement for utilities was also present, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would not allow building due to the presence of stream beds in the area.

Water rights agreements were also needed to procure large amounts of water.

Whittemore and his company successfully overcame most of the obstacles to development of Coyote Springs.

A commentator at the Las Vegas Review-Journal called Whittemore's triumphs a "marvel."

Politicians at the state and national levels have introduced legislation to benefit the project by removing some of the regulatory problems; in other cases, politicians reportedly exerted pressure on regulatory agencies to agree to Whittemore's projects.

Journalists and advocacy groups questioned whether Whittemore's personal and financial relationships with political figures, particularly Senate majority leader Harry Reid, affected these developments.

A grand jury convened in late February 2012 to investigate alleged illegal campaign contributions by Whittemore to Harry Reid's re-election campaign in 2007.

Whittemore, his wife, and company contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Reid's election campaigns and to Reid's leadership fund, which was used to aid Reid's allies and is said to have helped Reid attain his leadership position.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Whittemore had promised money to Reid, and in order to conceal his involvement wrote checks to family members and 29 of his employees or their family members, who then contributed the maximum allowable amount to Reid.

He was charged with four felonies with convictions on three of the counts, and sentenced September 2013 to two years in prison.

He was also given a $100,000 fine, along with two years supervision after his incarceration and 100 hours community service.

Whittemore was the president of Coyote Springs Investment, LLC, the land-development company behind Coyote Springs, a controversial $30 billion planned golf course community of 160,000 homes on 43,000 acres (17,000 ha) in the rural Nevada desert.

Whittemore's close relationship with Senator Harry Reid came under scrutiny because of perceived legislative and political pressure favors allowing Coyote Springs to overcome regulatory problems.

Whittemore, whose daughter, Andrea Whittemore-Goad, is a chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patient, founded a research center known as the Whittemore Peterson Institute to investigate the condition.