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He testifies that Audley Evans, the former chief of the Tampa Housing Authority, told him to lie in a letter to HUD.
By JEFF TESTERMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 10, 2001
TAMPA -- The former director of planning at the Tampa Housing Authority testified Friday that agency chief Audley Evans instructed him to write a letter to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development covering up Evans' role in approving improper construction payments.
Angelo DePaul, who oversaw building projects at the Housing Authority, also testified that he was pressured by Evans to falsify government disbursement forms to pay companies run by Bill Williams Jr., a convicted felon who has pleaded guilty to paying bribes for authority contracts.
DePaul's testimony came on the fourth day of the federal trial of Evans, the executive director of the Tampa Housing Authority from 1988 to 1996. The winner of numerous awards for his innovative housing programs, Evans, 48, was indicted last April on 92 counts of bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering involving the misappropriation of $4.5-million in federal HUD funds.
DePaul's key testimony Friday revolved around a $382,000 Housing Authority contract awarded to Williams' Unique Construction Co. in 1995 to rehabilitate six College Hill apartments damaged by fire.
Unique was the only bidder on the job, DePaul said, because Evans insisted on the shortest bid period possible, 10 days. A legal ad for the project was published just once.
Two days after the contract was signed, Williams' company submitted a request for $51,570 for demolition and cleaning work at the College Hill units. DePaul said he approved the payment even though the work had not been done.
Four months later, Williams requested $35,500 for roofing work, but DePaul said he initially refused to approve this order because the work was incomplete.
"Then I got a call from Mr. Evans to see if we could pay it," DePaul testified. "He said Williams had some financial problems and said to try to help him out."
DePaul said he signed the disbursement request, and Williams got his money.
The College Hill project dragged on, with some of Williams' workers reporting that their paychecks had bounced. Local media began to take an interest in the College Hill problem.
On March 15, 1996, the Housing Authority decided to cut its losses and terminated Unique Construction's contract.
Three weeks later, DePaul said he was ordered by Evans to write a letter to HUD detailing the College Hill project's problems. DePaul said Evans also instructed him to tell HUD that Evans had played no part in handling the Unique contract.
DePaul's letter, prepared on April 8, 1996, said the College Hill job began "after Mr. Evans was granted a six-month leave of absence." It added that Evans had had "no interaction with this project."
Both declarations to HUD were lies, DePaul testified.
In fact, he said, Evans had signed four forms authorizing payments to Unique Construction on the College Hill job.
During the course of that project, Williams, an Orlando contractor with a lengthy criminal record, claims to have paid eight cash bribes to Evans totaling $42,500, according to testimony.
On Wednesday, Williams testified that he was in federal prison serving a term for bank fraud when he discussed possible housing jobs with Evans by phone. After his release, Williams said, he worked out deals with Evans over weekly dinners at Malio's Restaurant, ultimately garnering authority contracts worth $1.6-million.
No one witnessed any bribes. Williams said he always delivered bundles of cash to Evans at his Housing Authority office. He said he kept silent while there because Evans feared his office was bugged.
Williams has pleaded guilty to bribery and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in return for a possible recommendation for a lighter sentence. The bribery charge carries a maximum 10-year prison term. It's not clear what kind of deal DePaul has with prosecutors. He was not questioned about any plea agreement while on the witness stand Friday.
In opening statements Tuesday, Evans' attorney Arnold Levine told jurors that DePaul had a sealed plea agreement with the government. In a meeting with defense attorneys last week, though, DePaul claimed he had no such agreement, Levine said.
DePaul said Friday that a second Williams-controlled company received approval for a phony $79,050 disbursement made two weeks after the Unique Construction contract was terminated at College Hill.
The additional $79,050 was for grass on a $140,000 "sod and seed" contract at North Boulevard Homes. DePaul signed it even though he knew it wouldn't pay for any more sod or seed.
"I was called to Mr. Evans' office and it was explained to me that Williams had taken a bath on some subcontracting on another phase of the project, and could we help him out," DePaul testified. "So I prepared the change order."