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Wife Of Imprisoned Builder 'Blinded And Deluded By Her Love'

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 19, 2008

Updated: 06/19/2008 02:25 pm

TAMPA - Joanne Cone, who is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for bankruptcy fraud, was "blinded and deluded by her love for her husband," her attorney says in court papers.

Michael Cone, 51, was sentenced in May to 15 years in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud, to be served consecutive to a five-year state prison sentence for participating in an organized scheme to defraud the state Department of Transportation.

Ten years ago, Cone Constructors, with headquarters on Tampa's South Lois Avenue and an office in Miami, had some 300 employees in Hillsborough County and did $60 million in business. The company had done about $323 million in road contracting with Florida the previous 10 years and probably was one of the 10 largest contractors with DOT, state officials said at the time.

The company worked on major projects, including the Veterans Expressway, Polk Parkway and Suncoast Parkway.

At Michael Cone's sentencing hearing, his attorney said Cone had been offered a plea deal in which his sentence would be capped at five years and his wife would not be charged. Michael Cone didn't take the deal, and Joanne Cone wound up pleading guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud.

Cone filed for bankruptcy July 7, 2000. According to Cone's plea agreement, he conspired with his wife and employee Patricia Rankin Grable, 53, to conceal property from the bankruptcy court. Grable pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Joanne Cone's attorney, Marcelino J. Huerta, filed a sentencing memorandum arguing Michael Cone manipulated his wife and led her to unwittingly participate in crime.

Joanne Cone¸52, met her husband when she was 11, and the two were "summertime pals," the memorandum states. Her father was a real estate attorney, and her mother was a registered nurse.

When her grades slipped in school, she moved to Colorado with her sister. When she returned to Tampa, she began seeing Michael Cone, and he persuaded her to elope after a quick courtship. They have two sons, born in 1993 and 1995.

Joanne Cone worked fixing up small houses to rent, and she supported her husband in his business, taking his lunch to work sites and washing his clothes.

"She acquired a basic understanding of what he does, but she was no road builder," the memorandum states. "Instead, she accepted what her husband told her about things such as money, insurance and DOT contracts."

When her husband asked for her help, she provided it. "She trusted him," the memorandum states. "She was proud of her husband and believed he knew what he was doing."

"It's within this setting that Mr. Cone's disputes with the Florida Department of Transportation, a state agency, began to escalate, culminating in the conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud offenses."

Joanne Cone joined the conspiracy, "although playing a minimal role," Huerta wrote. "Please note, however, that Mr. Cone had a penchant and skill for manipulating and deceiving others."

Michael Cone "often blocked her from the truth," Huerta wrote. "For example, the extent and gravity of the investigation was parsed to her, he kept material pieces of correspondence from her, and critically failed to relay a possible plea negotiation to her. He also declined to retain counsel for her in spite of her requests and his promises to do so."

Joanne Cone, Huerta wrote, was dominated by her husband's "superior knowledge" and "affected by her chronically weakened and compromised mental state."

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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