Quid Pro Quo

The Indiana Supreme Court has ordered an interim suspension of a former deputy prosecutor who pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge.

RTV6ABC has a report on the circumstances

David Wyser, 53, will plead guilty to federal bribery charges involving a 1991 murder case in which a woman was originally sentenced to 110 years in prison, but had her sentence dramatically reduced after her father donated thousands to Brizzi’s and Wyser’s campaigns.

Paula Willoughby was convicted in a murder-for-hire plot to kill her husband, Darrell Willoughby, after prosecutors said she and her lover, Douglas Steuber, paid a man $700 to kill Darrell Willoughby.

Paula Willoughby was sentenced to 110 years in prison, and, on appeal, the Indiana Supreme Court reduced her sentence to 70 years.

In June 2009, the sentence was modified to 40 years, a move agreed to by Brizzi’s office, and Paula Willoughby was released in July 2009 for time served.

But from 2006 to 2008, prior to the sentence modification, Willoughby’s father, Harrison Epperly, donated $29,000 to the Brizzi campaign and gave $2,500 to Wyser’s failed campaign for Hamilton County prosecutor, records show.

Jenny Lukemeyer, who was Paula Willoughby’s attorney at the time, also held a fundraiser for Wyser at her home that raised $2,500.

Indiana Lawyer had this report. (Mike Frisch)