Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence today cut the ribbon on Meltzer Woods Nature Preserve in Shelbyville as part of the Bicentennial Nature Trust (BNT). The 60-acre wooded land is one of the state’s last remaining old growth forests and today’s dedication as a nature preserve brings the total number of acres in the Indiana nature preserve system to 50,000.

“I’m pleased to join the Meltzer family, Central Indiana Land Trust, Indiana Bicentennial Commission, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as we cut the ribbon to officially open Meltzer Woods Nature Preserve here in Shelby County,” said Governor Pence. “By marking the Meltzer Woods Nature Preserve as an official part of the Bicentennial Nature Trust, we are ensuring part of Indiana’s unmatched natural beauty will remain intact for generations to come. I can’t think of a better gift during this Bicentennial year than recognizing the importance of preserving pieces of our natural legacy to remind Hoosiers where we came from, and to cherish the Indiana we inherited.”

Indiana’s system of Nature Preserves was established by a 1967 Act of the Indiana General Assembly, called the 1967 Nature Preserves Act. The system’s purpose is to provide permanent protection for significant natural areas within the state. There are 272 preserves in 71 of Indiana’s 92 counties.

Former Governor Mitch Daniels announced the BNT in his 2012 State of the State Address as a new statewide effort to honor Indiana’s 200^th anniversary in 2016.  The BNT was created to preserve and protect important conservation and recreation areas throughout Indiana by matching donations of land or dollars. Property acquired with this fund becomes part of the public trust to ensure that the land is protected for future generations of Hoosiers to use and enjoy. To date, the BNT has approved $29.2 million for 183 projects in 66 counties, 109 of which are complete for a total of 10,004 acres.

Photos from today’s Meltzer Woods Nature Preserve dedication can be found below.

Governor Mike Pence will offer remarks at the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action’s (NRA-ILA) Leadership Forum in Louisville, KY. Details below.

Friday, May 20:

3:50 p.m. EDT – Governor Pence to offer remarks at NRA-ILA Leadership Forum

*Media are welcome to attend.

Freedom Hall Building, Kentucky Exposition Center – 937 Phillips Ln, Louisville, KY

by Scott Olson for www.theindianalawyer.com

The Indiana Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Commission is recommending former Marion County Prosecutor Carl J. Brizzi III be punished for “a pattern of misconduct” that occurred during his time in office.

In the eight-page complaint filed this week, the commission chastised Brizzi for participating in a questionable real estate deal and for intervening in a criminal case involving the client of an attorney friend and business partner.

Reached by phone, Brizzi described the commission’s actions as “bizarre,” since the commission previously indicated it would not be pursuing disciplinary action.

In a letter dated March 2, which Brizzi forwarded to IBJ, the commission dismissed the grievance “on grounds that there is not reasonable cause to believe that you are guilty of misconduct.”

“I find this very suspect, very unusual,” Brizzi said. “I relied on those representations as true, and they have not given any sort of explanation why they would suddenly reopen them.”

Commission officials did not immediately respond to IBJ’s request for information about the March 2 letter.

Brizzi served as prosecutor from 2002 until 2010. The commission’s request that Brizzi be disciplined stems partly from an eight-year-old real estate deal first scrutinized by IBJ.

Brizzi in 2008 became a co-owner with Indianapolis attorney Paul Page in an office building in Elkhart, according to the complaint. The state Department of Child Services leased space in the building.

Page pleaded guilty in January 2013 to a wire fraud charge stemming from a 14-count indictment alleging he and other parties defrauded the state and a bank over their purchase of the Elkhart building and the subsequent lease deal with the state.

Brizzi failed to mention his interest as an owner in the building in his annual Statement of Economic Interest required by the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission, the commission alleges.

By failing to disclose his interest, Brizzi violated the rules of professional conduct for attorneys, the disciplinary commission charged in its complaint.

The commission also slammed Brizzi for intervening in a criminal case involving one of Page’s clients.

In February 2008, Joseph Mobareki was charged in Marion Superior Court with seven counts related to the possession of controlled substances—with the most serious charge a Class B felony. In addition, the prosecutor’s office sought the forfeiture of $17,550 in cash that Mobareki held at the time of his arrest.

The case was handed to deputy prosecutors Ronald Buckler and Lawrence Brodeur, who worked out a plea agreement in which Mobareki would plead guilty to one Class C felony and forfeit the cash.

Brodeur later learned that a new plea agreement arranged between Brizzi and Page would allow Mobareki to plead to a single Class D felony and keep the entire $17,550 in cash, according to the commission’s complaint.

The more lenient plea deal prompted the Indiana Supreme Court in October 2014 to begin investigating Brizzi’s involvement in the Mobareki case. The commission alleges in its complaint that Brizzi intentionally made a false statement in his response to the investigation about his knowledge of the situation.

“[Brizzi] knew his statement was false at the time he made it,” the commission said in its complaint.

Brizzi also became the target of a federal investigation over whether he intervened in the case. But the U.S. Attorney’s Office, led then by current Indianapolis Mayor Joseph Hogsett, ultimately chose in October 2013 not to charge Brizzi. 

“These allegations are literally eight years old,” Brizzi said. “They have been investigated and vetted by federal and state governmental agencies. There’s nothing new here.”

The Indiana Supreme Court will decide whether to discipline Brizzi.