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Ex-Candidate Admits Fraud

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 15, 2008

Updated: 01/14/2008 11:58 pm

CLEARWATER - A one-time Republican candidate for a state House seat pleaded guilty Friday to charges he siphoned about $110,000 from the account of a dead man, prosecutors say.

Angelo Cappelli, 38, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, said Assistant State Attorney Mark McGarry, who prosecuted the case.

Cappelli pleaded guilty to grand theft and perjury by false declaration. The second charge stemmed from Cappelli filing documents in court undervaluing the dead man's estate, investigators have said. At the time of the theft, Cappelli was working as a "wealth strategist" at a SunTrust bank.

Cappelli lost a bid two years ago for Florida's House District 52 seat. He took in about 46 percent of votes cast, despite outspending Democrat Bill Heller by tens of thousands of dollars. In a YouTube campaign video featuring his wife and two daughters, he touted his status as a Yale graduate and Eagle Scout, and an endorsement by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker.

The local political heavyweights who contributed to Cappelli's campaign account - which totaled $391,523 - included Vince Namoli, a former owner of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Mel Sembler, developer of the BayWalk shopping plaza and a former U.S. ambassador.

Authorities began investigating Cappelli last year after SunTrust determined he had misappropriated money, police have said. Cappelli, who is a lawyer, was a salesman for the bank's trust department, according to reports.

Detectives say Cappelli stole money from the trust account of Mario E. Granata after the 83-year-old died at Bay Pines VA Medical Center.

A former truck driver and Army veteran, Granata had no survivors and wanted his money to go to a charity, the Pinellas County Community Foundation, police have said.

The foundation gives grants to organizations including those providing affordable housing and others that assist children, seniors and the disabled. In 2005, the foundation handed out more than $1 million in grants, its Web site says.

St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt has said Granata left $159,671 in his trust for the foundation. Cappelli delivered a check for $45,354 to the charity but took the rest, Proffitt said.

Through a series of forgeries, Cappelli diverted about $110,000 of the total into a checking account he set up at a Mercantile Bank in St. Petersburg, Proffitt said. Cappelli named the account the "Y Club of Tampa Bay c/o Community Foundation," presumably after his alma mater, according to Proffitt. The money was used to pay personal bills, such as credit card debt, the police spokesman said.

In addition, a SunTrust document forged by Cappelli resulted in a check for $4,489 being paid to St. John's Insurance Co., which provides his homeowners insurance, Proffitt said.

The perjury charge stems from what Cappelli did on May 9, Proffitt said, when he filed documents on SunTrust's behalf with Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court's probation division valuing the assets in Granata's estate at $58,000 when the amount was $159,671.47, according to Proffitt.

Cappelli reimbursed SunTrust, which gave the money to the charity as Granata had wanted, Proffitt said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727)451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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