Page Likely To Serve Little Or No Time For His Role In State Real Esate Fraud Scheme

Earlier this year, Indianapolis criminal defense attorney and business partner of former Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, Paul Page, agreed to plead guilty to a single count of wire fraud for his role in a real estate fraud scheme in which he purchased a vacant commercial office building in Elkhart, Indiana with the advanced knowledge that a political crony of former Gov. Mitch Daniels, who acted as an exclusive real estate leasing agent for the state of Indiana, would pave the way for a lucrative long-term lease of the building for the state's Department of Child Services that would substantially increase the building's value overnight. Brizzi, whose ex-wife worked for DCS, was given a 50% stake in the investment as a finder's fee for identifying the sure-bet real estate deal for Page.

Federal prosecutors in the northern district of Indiana also charged Daniels' crony and close Brizzi pal John Bales and his business partner, William Spencer, with wire, mail and bank fraud for their roles in the deal. Prosecutors alleged that Bales' company received kickbacks from Page's company for arranging the deal while acting on behalf of the state of Indiana despite a contractual prohibition on such self-dealing. The lead prosecutor, Jesse Barrett, a former Barnes & Thornburg attorney, incredibly didn't call Page as a witness or state whistle blowers who could shed light on the corrupt transactions. Not surprisingly, a jury found Bales and Spencer not guilty on all charges. Page was represented by Larry Mackey, a partner at the same law firm where the prosecutor had worked before joining the U.S Attorney's Office.

Two weeks ago, we learned that U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett had dropped his investigation of Brizzi, claiming that neither a former chief deputy under Brizzi, David Wyser, who pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe in order to fix the early release of a convicted murderer, nor Page were able to offer any evidence that would support charges against Brizzi. Evidence showed that Brizzi had offered a lenient plea deal to an accused drug dealer represented by Page and returned $20,000 in cash seized during the investigation so the money could be used to pay his business partner's legal fees in representing the accused drug dealer. Brizzi had also received approximately $30,000 in campaign contributions from the convicted murderer's father prior to his office approving a deal to modify her prison sentence to spring her from prison.

Not surprisingly, Page's attorney, Robert Hammerle, believes that his client should serve no time for the one felony crime he committed, which arguably he could not have committed if we accept the verdict in the case against Bales and Spencer and the results of the sloppy and leak-prone investigation undertaken by Hogsett's office in the southern district, which has once again left FBI agents demoralized that their work in Indiana on public corruption cases is a complete waste of time when the people at the top of the law enforcement chain are doing everything conceivable to undermine their efforts. Barrett is half-heartedly seeking a 14-month prison sentence for Page after blowing the prosecution against Bales and Spencer. The Indiana Attorney Disciplinary Commission has yet to pursue charges, if any, against Page, Wyser or Brizzi to determine if they should face action against their privileges to practice law in Indiana according to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys.