Larry Di Ianni pleads guilty

In a court-approved sweat-hearts deal yesterday, Hamilton Mayor Di Ianni pleaded guilty to six counts under the Municipal Elections Act. He agreed to pay $4,500 to a charity and write an essay for Municipal World magazine so others can learn from his experience. Thirty-five other charges were withdrawn.

What happened to the 35 others that were originally laid against Di Ianni by Wilkin, the hired gun who had been given carte blanche by city council to decide what charges to lay and which to take to trial? The one who was hell bent on getting justice.

Kingston lawyer Tim Wilkin, put his hopes in a hand basket and preyed the decision will send a strong message to other candidates to watch their campaign fundraising closely. Furthermore, the charges where withdrawn because Di Ianni accepted responsibility and to avoid an expensive court trial, he said. That "oh I won't do it again, I'm sorry" line didn't work on my grade school principle. How the hell does this guy think it works now?

The six counts Di Ianni pleaded guilty to reflected the types of overall violations: failing to return illegal donations in a timely manner, failing to return overcontributions in a timely manner and improper record keeping.

Wilkin asked the judge to use an exception to the rule because Di Ianni's violation was not intentional. Sure, and if I or you "unintentially" try to write off a $50.00 bar tab as a legitimate expense and when you get caught, chalk it up to bad book keeping, you would have the book thrown at you.

Judge Zuraw agreed, saying it would be "unjust and cruel" to force Di Ianni out of politics. I'm not asking for the Mayor to clean city halls mens room, just stop giving Hamiltom more black eyes.

Di Ianni is the first elected official in Ontario to be convicted of breaking the Municipal Elections Act. The law does not require the errors be intentional for conviction.

The Mayor may wish the case was over, but Joanna Chapman says she plans to counter with more charges. The mayor returned $26,000 in illegal donations, but his guilty plea only dealt with $2,000. What about the other $24,000?

Di Ianni's campaign finances may yet achieve the same status of other long-running Hamilton stories like the Red Hill Parkway and Lister Block.

IN DEPTH

Lets look at the players in the third installment of "Hamilton:The Money Pit"

* July 2004: Downtown bookstore owner,Joanna Chapman asks council to audit Mayor Larry Di Ianni's mayoral campaign expenses. She also fingers councillors Tom Jackson, Bill Kelly, Terry Whitehead and five unsuccessful candidates. Council rejects her request. Chapman announces she is going to court. Di Ianni hires an auditor to examine his books.

* December 2004: Complaints against most of the candidates are dropped after they agree to take steps to comply with the Municipal Elections Act. Chapman continues to pursue Di Ianni, John Best and Marvin Caplan, who insist they've done nothing wrong.

* May 2005: After months of arguments, Justice Timothy Culver makes history by ordering an audit of Di Ianni's books. The judge chastises council for failing or refusing to exercise its jurisdiction and not considering the merits of Chapman's case. Di Ianni has returned $19,500 in illegal donations and says any errors were unintentional.

* May 2005: Chapman lays charges against 18 companies for overcontributing to Di Ianni's campaign and violating the elections act.

* August 2005: Council hires Ken Froese, a chartered accountant with LECG Canada, to audit the books of Di Ianni, Best and Caplan.

* October 2005: Froese's investigation finds five new Di Ianni violations worth $3,300. He asks to continue his audit to dig deeper. Froese finds three apparent contraventions and one reporting error in Best's books. Caplan can't find his records.

* February 2006: Froese reports he's found another $3,100 in illegal donations to Di Ianni. For each violation, Froese notes his conclusions "relied on information not otherwise provided to Di Ianni." He also finds issues with the books of Caplan and Best. Council hires a Kingston lawyer to advise whether to lay charges.

* March 6, 2006: Council votes to charge Di Ianni after receiving a legal report that says there are grounds to do so. The vote is 12-1. It also votes to charge Best and Caplan.

* July 10, 2006: 41 charges are laid against Di Ianni. Best is charged with six counts, Caplan with one.

* Aug. 15, 2006: The charges against Best and Caplan are withdrawn in agreements that see both men donate to charity. Di Ianni's case is deferred as talks continue to avoid trial.

* Yesterday: Di Ianni pleads guilty to six charges, the other 35 are withdrawn. He agrees to make a charitable donation of $4,500 and write an essay.

Some tips for Mr. Di Ianni as he sets forth on his essay. "Wikipedia" has an excellent listing on Hamilton Mayors. Detailing great builders like Copps and Sam Lawrence. In twenty years from now Larry Di Ianni, will be nothing more than a footnote under the heading "fraud".

A bigger fraud will take place on election day, unless someone steps up and runs against Di Ianni. Hamilton needs a lion not a paper tiger.

Later,
Kenaz