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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA Hamilton County judge has rejected the plea agreement of the former public information officer for Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi.
Mario Massillamany was arrested in March in Hamilton County for drunk driving after he was stopped by police for speeding and driving in the wrong lane. Shortly after his arrest, Massillamany resigned from his position in the prosecutor’s office.
He is charged with two Class A misdemeanors: operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person, and operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to 0.15 or more.
David Riggins of the Shelby County Prosecutor’s Office is the special prosecutor in the case due to Massillamany’s previous employment with the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
A jury trial was scheduled for Oct. 19, but Massillamany entered a guilty plea and agreement Thursday. Riggins said the agreement called for Massillamany to plead guilty to OWI endangering a person, do 150 hours of community service, have a 1-year sentence suspended to 20 days in jail, and have his license suspended for a year. His license is currently suspended.
Hamilton Superior Judge Gail Z. Bardach rejected the plea agreement and restored Massillamany’s not guilty plea. Riggins said the judge said in court she didn’t feel the license suspension was long enough.
The jury trial has been continued to Dec 7 but Riggins said they would continue to work on a plea agreement.
An attorney since 2004, he resigned his prosecutor’s office post immediately following his arrest and the Indiana Roll of Attorneys shows he’s now an attorney with Starr Austen & Miller in Logansport.
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