Joe Waldholtz may be a convicted felon and fraud. But now he is apparently considering using those qualifications to become a writer.
Barbara Nicastro, one of Waldholtz's attorneys, said he has received some feelers about writing a book on his life, culminating in his pleading guilty to campaign, bank and tax fraud two weeks ago."It's my understanding there have been some feelers," she said. "I don't think they are firm offers, just feelers to see if he is interested."
She said he hasn't said how seriously he is taking them because he is focusing now on answering prosecutors' questions about his crimes in a continuing series of interviews - which a plea agreement required as part of a deal for reduced charges.
Waldholtz hinted strongly after he pleaded guilty on June 5 that he may implicate his ex-wife, Rep. Enid Greene, R-Utah, in his crimes - but she blames all wrongdoing on him, saying he duped her into believing he was rich as he embezzled millions from her father and illegally used much of it to finance her campaign.
In fact, Greene's attorney, Charles Roistacher, would likely want any book by Waldholtz classified as fiction because he said after Waldholtz's conviction, "Joseph Waldholtz has been a liar and a perjurer all of his life."
Waldholtz is scheduled to be sentenced for his crimes Sept. 19. Recommendations from prosecutors for any leniency hinges on how fully and honestly they believe his cooperation in interviews has been.
He pleaded guilty to one bank fraud count for writing two checks totaling $250,000 without sufficient funds as part of what prosecutors said was a $3 million check kiting scheme.
He pleaded guilty to making a false statement and filing a false campaign form as part of what he admitted was the illegal funneling of $1.8 million to Greene's 1994 campaign.
He also pleaded guilty to tax fraud for telling his wife he was giving her some money-losing stock to help her escape the tax liability on other stock she had sold for a profit. That resulted in Greene filing a false tax return in 1993.