LITTLE ROCK — A 35-year-old Maumelle man was sentenced to 80 years in prison Wednesday by a Pulaski County circuit judge who called him a liar, a cheat and a thief after hearing how Robert Joseph "Roberto" Maldonado II continued to write bad checks despite a court order banning him from using checks at all.
The prohibition on checkwriting was part of Maldonado's February agreement to plead guilty to seven felony hot-check charges representing more than $127,000 in bad checks betweenChristmas Eve 2004 and Aug. 15, 2007. In exchange for eight years on probation, his parents - using their retirement fund - paid $109,512 in restitution, and Maldonado promised to pay an additional $17,592.
According to testimony Wednesday at Maldonado'sprobation revocation hearing before Circuit Judge Barry Sims, by July, Maldonado had stopped showing up for monthly meetings with his probation officer, stopped paying court fees, was facing new charges of misdemeanor assault and resistingarrest plus felony theft, and had written five checks on closed bank accounts, including a $432 tax check to the Pulaski County treasurer's office.
And when Maldonado took the stand to explain his situation, deputy prosecutor John Hout confronted him with documents that could lead to more charges: copies of federal tax returns, W-2 forms and bank statements that, Hout said, were forged by Maldonado when he applied for a loan in June from Twin City Bank.
"This is the first time I'm seeing these documents," Maldonado said.
But his claim was contradicted by Sue Tull, a senior vice president at Twin City, who testified that she received the papers in June when Maldonado was seeking a loan.
A 2006 federal tax return produced by Hout showed that Maldonado, through his company RM Construction Co., had reported an income of $654,583 but Maldonado testified that he earned $63,000 that year. He acknowledged that his and his wife's signatures were on the document, but said it was prepared by a tax preparer who is now wanted by the FBI.
Hout offered Maldonado a chance to explain the papers.
"You're in a world of hurt right now. Do you want to change your story?" the prosecutor said.
"No, sir," Maldonado replied.
Hout said he agreed to the probated sentence in February only to get restitution for Maldonado's victims. Pointing to Maldonado's 14-year criminal record with convictions for check forgery, hot checks and theft by deception, Hout said, the maximum sentence of 120 years didn't seem like enough.
"This is the most manipulative and deceitful defendant ... since you have taken the bench," Hout told the judge. "That [120 years] still wouldn't be enough to guarantee the people of Pulaski County would be free of what he's going to do."
Pleading for mercy, his mother, Maria Maldonado, described her son as a hard worker trying to support his family. She said he also seemed to be a target for bad luck.
"You might look at him like he is the scum of the earth. He is not," she told the judge. "He is a s**t magnet. If something is swarming around, it would come to him."
During his testimony, Maldonado didn't address the felony theft case or the documents that prosecutors say he forged, but he had an explanation for all of the other accusations.
A tearful Maldonado admitted that he made mistakes, calling the decision to write the check to the treasurer's office "stupid and ignorant." The other four checks - on a bank account that had been closed for two years - weren't supposed to be cashed, Maldonado said. The checks represented his promise to make payments while he was trying to purchase the former Granite Designs, which he now operates as Granite and Tile Solutions Inc. on Stagecoach Road. Court filings show that he has also operated the landscaping company Lawn One.
He blamed the still-pending assault charge on a misunderstanding with the Hampton Inn hotel clerk he is accused of striking, saying he resisted the police officer attempting to arrest him only because he didn't know the man was a police officer.
He said he hadn't done anything to intentionally hurt anyone. Maldonado said he was only trying to work to support his wife and three children.
"I was trying to better myself and better my family," he told the judge. "I had no intentions of taking advantage of anybody. I was trying to do right."
The normally reserved Sims capped the two-hour hearing by raising his voice to pronounce punishment.
"You're a liar. You're a cheat, and you're a thief," the judge said. "I have absolutely no sympathy for you."
Maldonado must serve at least 13 years before he is eligible for parole. He is to stand trial on the theft charge in two weeks.
Arkansas, Pages 9, 11 on 09/04/2008