Monday, May 19, 2014

Former Deputy Prosecutor and Brizzi Spokesman Sentenced For Felony DUI

A former Marion County deputy prosecutor and spokesman for former Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, Mario Massillamany, was sentenced this morning to home detention after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge for operating a vehicle while intoxicated stemming from an arrest made last year. Massillamany's arrest last year was his third drunk driving arrest, which came less than three years after a similar arrest in 2010, making it a Class D felony offense.

According to court records, Massillamany was given a 3-year sentence by Hamilton Co. Superior Court Judge Wayne Sturtevant, two and a half years of which was suspended. Judge Sturtevant ordered Massillamany to serve 180 days on monitored home detention after crediting him for 20 days served in the Hamilton County jail. Massillamany's driver's license has also been suspended for one year. Masssillamany is eligible to have his felony conviction entered as a misdemeanor offense under the state's alternative sentencing law within three years if he satisfies the terms of his probation. Massillamany was given a 32-day jail sentence and 180-day driver's license suspension after his 2011 drunk driving conviction.

According to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys, Massillamany's law license is listed as "active in good standing" with no pending disciplinary actions against him for the felony drunk driving in which he entered a guilty plea as part of a plea agreement on April 9. Massillamany was publicly reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2011 after his second drunk driving conviction. Massillamany, who worked as an attorney/lobbyist for Barnes & Thornburg at the time of his arrest, has since joined DECA Financial Services, which is now being wound down as part of a bankruptcy liquidation process. Massillamany also serves as president of the Hamilton Co. Young Republicans.

The politically-connected financial services firm where Massillamany currently works was offered $2.5 million in conditional tax credits by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in 2012 based on a promise it would create 270 jobs by 2015. The debt collection firm, which primarily collects unpaid medical bills, has instead been ordered liquidated by a bankruptcy trustee after the company defaulted on money owed to its creditors after a failed mortgage refinancing attempt. A former top executive of the company founded by a friend of Massillamany, Todd Wolfe, claimed that someone had removed nearly $2 million from a company account while it struggled to pay its bills. The company had been recently awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Education before encountering financial problems. Among the creditors owed money by the company is Massillamany's former employer, Barnes & Thornburg, which says it is owed more than $800,000 in unpaid legal fees.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

And yet the Disciplinary Commision wants to cruicify Paul Ogden for privately criticizing a judge!

Anonymous said...

The license suspension seems far too short for a three-time DWI offender.

Anonymous said...

Some animals are more equal than others.

Anonymous said...

Is 5:53 PM's comment about suspension a reference to driver's license suspension or law license or criminal sentence suspension?

Here is what the Supreme Court did
in a recent past 3 time DUI offender disciplinary case:
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/files/atty-disc-2011-71S00-1103-DI-162.pdf.

Gary R. Welsh said...

I believe anon 5:53's reference to the license suspension referred to the one-year driver's license suspension.

Orange County DUI Attorney said...

Very interesting. Sounds like someone has a drinking problem. I like the blog. Keep up the good fight.