Road builder pleads guilty to wire fraud

The president of Cone Constructors admits hiding assets during bankruptcy.

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published October 9, 2007

TAMPA - By the summer of 2000, business no longer boomed for Cone Constructors - once one of the state's 10 largest road builders - and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

As president Michael Cone announced financial defeat in court papers in July 2000, federal prosecutors say he was busy hiding money and assets from the government.

He and two co-defendants were scheduled to go to trial today for conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud. Instead, they're awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty last week.

If a judge gives Cone, 52, the maximum penalty, he would get 35 years in prison.

In 1999, Cone pleaded no contest to state criminal charges of failing to pay subcontractors and avoided a possible 20-year jail sentence. The Florida Transportation Department prohibited his company from bidding on state projects for the next four years, but allowed him to finish existing contracts.

Cone is a third-generation member of a family long involved in construction.

In the federal case, prosecutors accused Cone, his wife, Joanne Cone, and employee Patricia Rankin Grable of concealing more than $1-million in property after Cone Constructors filed for bankruptcy. Court documents lay out some of the details prosecutors planned to share during trial.

They say Cone sold his company's construction equipment, then sent Grable to New York to deposit the money in a bank account under a different business name. Cone later had Grable transfer nearly all the money into her personal bank account in Tampa, according to court papers.

Besides transferring equipment and vehicles to third parties, the Cones and Grable hid company records and falsified other documents, prosecutors said.

Michael Cone pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud and to wire fraud. According to a plea agreement, Cone will forfeit $242,000 and give up his $1.2-million Sunset Park home.

Joanne Cone also pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud. She faces up to five years in prison.

Grable pleaded guilty Oct. 3 to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud and to wire fraud. Like Michael Cone, Grable faces a maximum of 35 years in prison on both counts.

In court filings on the plea deal, prosecutors said they would ask for a sentence at the lower end of the guidelines, but the judge has final say on the sentence.

Grable's attorney, Stephen Crawford, said the plea brought closure to the case.

Attorneys for the Cones did not return phone calls for comment.

All three remain free on bail until a sentencing date is set.

Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 8, 2007, 23:47:46]