Guilty on 23 of 24 Federal Fraud Charges
Next up? Tony K Baloney and the Baltia mob, 'buying group' and Directors included
"Jury Finds Spirito Guilty of 23 of 24 Federal Fraud Charges He Faced
Peter Dujardin
Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) (TNS)
Mar 11th, 2020
The former executive director of the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport was found guilty Tuesday of 23 of the 24 felony charges against him.
After about 6 1/2 of deliberations over two days, a 12-member jury in U.S. District Court in Norfolk found Ken Spirito guilty of all but one of the charges he faced. He was acquitted on one of the four perjury charges he faced.
Most of the charges against Spirito -- who led the airport between 2009 and his firing in 2017 -- pertained to a $5 million loan guarantee that the Peninsula Airport Commission issued to a start-up airline, People Express, in 2014.
Prosecutors contended during a two-week trial that Spirito spearheaded the effort on the loan guarantee, while the former airport executive and his attorney, Trey Kelleter, maintained that he was being made the fall guy for the actions of a host of local players.
Spirito, wearing a dark suit, declined to comment as he left the courtroom with his wife, Suzanne, and his attorneys, Kelleter and David Littel, after the jury rendered their verdict at about 3:30 p.m.
Prosecutors also declined to comment.
Under the loan guarantee, TowneBank issued the $5 million line of credit to People Express, with the airport on the hook to cover the debt if the airline defaulted.
The airline collapsed in September 2014 — less than three months after beginning its flights. A few months later, in early 2015, the airport paid off the loan’s outstanding debt with $4.5 million in public money.
The Daily Press learned about the debt payment to TowneBank in early 2017, and the ensuing coverage led to a state audit and a management shakeup. A joint state and federal investigation was launched.
The two-week trial included dozens of witnesses and more than 100 email exchanges.
The jury on Tuesday found Spirito guilty of 12 counts of misusing public money at an organization receiving federal grants for the debt payments on the loan.
They convicted him of six counts of money laundering in relation to the shifting of money and mislabeling the accounts that were used to collateralize and pay the debt.
Spirito also was found guilty of knowingly giving false information about the source of the funds when the Federal Aviation Administration began asking him questions about the guarantee in early 2017.
He was also convicted of separately embezzling more than $5,000 for using an airport credit card to pay for a long-term warranty to his own car and repairs to his car and an employee’s vehicle after accidents.
Spirito was additionally found guilty of three counts of perjury -- and acquitted on one perjury count -- for statements he made during a deposition he gave to an airport lawyer in early 2019 during the civil defamation lawsuit that he filed after his ouster.
He was convicted of obstruction of justice for giving a transcript of that deposition to agents in the criminal case.
He will remain on bond until his sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson on June 10.
This is a developing story."
AI
