TULSA, Okla. — A former Ottawa County assistant district attorney was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Wednesday for using his position as a prosecutor to offer preferential legal treatment in exchange for sexual acts.
Daniel Thomas Giraldi, 45, of Joplin, pleaded guilty in U.S. Federal Court in July 2022 to one count of possession of Oxycodone with intent to distribute and four counts of honest services fraud. He is to surrender to federal authorities on Nov. 24, court records show.
Honest services fraud is when an individual whose official acts were influenced in some unlawful way that they deprive the government or public of the “intangible rights” to his/her honest services. In lay terms that means Giraldi was supposed to be acting on behalf of the state, providing prosecutorial services, but instead was using his office to benefit himself.
“In addition to providing favors for his previous client, who would pimp out women,” Giraldi “skipped the middleman and negotiated sexual favors directly with women for favors in cases handled by the Ottawa County District Attorney’s office.”
GOVERNMENT’S SENTENCING MEMORANUM, Sept. 8, 2023
Federal court documents show Giraldi will also be on probation for three years once he’s released from prison and he was fined $500.
The federal conviction centers on Giraldi’s practice as a prosecutor and a private criminal defense attorney, representing clients where he provided favorable legal treatment in exchange for sexual acts.
The former prosecutor, who worked for the county from Feb. 2019 to April 2022, also confessed to distributing drugs to women in exchange for performing sexual acts. He admitted to providing Clonazepam and Oxycodone to one of the women in exchange for sexual favors.
As a prosecutor, Giraldi dismissed criminal charges, reduced charges, offered more favorable plea agreements, moved court dates, reduced bond amounts, and dismissed or reduced traffic tickets, according to court records.
Giraldi also “performed favors for women in exchange for sex including reducing bond, favorable treatment, dismissal of DWI charges, the destruction of documents, and even a child custody case,” according to court documents.
Giraldi relinquished and forfeited his Oklahoma Bar License and is prohibited from reinstatement or holding any public office.
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