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Ex-Overture director pleads not guilty

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by Bridget Roby

Friday, November 2, 2007

At his initial federal court appearance Thursday, a former high-ranking Madison official and Overture Center director pled not guilty to several federal charges of corruption.

Robert D’Angelo allegedly used his city office to operate a consulting business alongside another side business selling used goods, earning him $238,000 in gross revenues between 1999 and 2004, according to grand jury charges.

In court, a magistrate judge entered not-guilty pleas to 39 federal charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, filing false income tax returns and money laundering. D’Angelo was indicted last month.

According to the indictment, D’Angelo operated a business in which he bought and sold used books, music CDs and costume jewelry, among other things, without permission or knowledge of the mayor.

George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said it has not yet been decided whether the mayor will have to testify in the trial.

“If the mayor or anyone else is asked to assist in the trial, they will certainly do so,” Twigg said.

However, Twigg said the trial is still far off.

Among the 39 federal charges to which D’Angelo pled not guilty were 15 counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud, four counts of filing false income tax returns and four counts of money laundering, according to court documents.

Additionally, D’Angelo was indicted for laundering $70,000 over four checks from 2002 to 2005 with checks from his personal bank account to Merrill Lynch using money from his other alleged crimes.

In light of the amount of money he earned from side businesses, D’Angelo is being accused of falsely representing his income tax returns for 2001-04.

D’Angelo retired as Overture Center director in 2005 after his receptionist Monica Everson filed extensive sexual harassment complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.

If found guilty, D’Angelo could reportedly face up to 652 years in federal prison.

— The Associated Press and Nick Penzenstadler contributed to this report.

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