Ex-investigator accused of stealing valuable comic books

Anthony Chiofalo, a Houston lawyer who has been on the run since June when he was accused of stealing more than $9 million from his employer, leaves the 339th state District Court, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, in Houston, after he turned himself in weeks ago at a Rhode Island police station. Chiofalo, 51, was a New York attorney with a suspended law license who moved to Houston in 2009. He took a job with Tadano America, a wholly owned subsidiary of a Japanese company that manufactures large cranes, court records show. He is accused of stealing from them using dummy law firms. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Karen Warren) less Anthony Chiofalo, a Houston lawyer who has been on the run since June when he was accused of stealing more than $9 million from his employer, leaves the 339th state District Court, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, in ... more Photo: Karen Warren, Associated Press Photo: Karen Warren, Associated Press Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Ex-investigator accused of stealing valuable comic books 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

When Lonnie Blevins wanted to sell $140,000 worth of vintage comic books that had been taken out of their protective covers for about half what they were worth at a convention in Chicago, the buyers were suspicious.

Blevins let them photograph his Texas driver's license and showed his badge proving he was an investigator with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

The badge was legitimate. Blevins' ownership of the comics was not.

Blevins, 38, was arrested Tuesday on charges of stealing evidence, accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in comic books from a defendant in an embezzlement case.

A second investigator with the district attorney's office, whose name has not been released, has also been suspended while the investigation continues, according to a statement released by Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson.

"Our office has cooperated fully with this ongoing investigation and will continue to do so," Anderson said. "This is consistent with my pledge to the citizens of Harris County to restore integrity to the district attorney's office."

Blevins resigns

Blevins, who left the local district attorney's office in December, resigned Monday from the Bexar County District Attorney's Office after learning of the charges against him, said his lawyer, Dick DeGuerin. "We're still investigating, but his plea is 'not guilty,' " DeGuerin said. "And we'll go to trial on it."

Blevins is charged with interstate transfer of stolen property.

The former investigator was arrested after a federal investigation into items that disappeared from the home and storage units of a disbarred lawyer facing charges that he stole from his employer.

The dealers who bought the comics from Blevins in Chicago contacted James Halperin at Heritage Auctions after researching their purchase on the auction house's website. After conferring, Halperin contacted authorities on their behalf.

Court records show that Blevins also sold $38,000 in comics at a convention in San Antonio in June.

In the underlying case, former attorney Anthony Chiofalo is charged with stealing more than $9 million from his employer. He is accused of using the money to buy millions of dollars worth of sports memorabilia and collectibles, including a first-edition Batman comic book, worth about $900,000.

Those items, investigators said, are like bearer bonds because they hold their value but are difficult to trace.

Blevins is accused of stealing dozens of valuable comic books that previously had been sold to Chiofalo and selling them. Chiofalo's attorney said the investigation is ongoing and may reveal that even more was taken.

"We attempted to cooperate with the DA's office to provide restitution, and in doing so we realized there were some very valuable books that were not accounted for," said Paul Doyle, Chiofalo's attorney. "That hinders our ability, obviously, to make restitution."

It is unclear how the allegations against someone who was investigating Chiofalo will affect that case, but Doyle said he will ask that the case be dismissed.

More than $1 million

"It's over a million dollars, at least," Doyle said of the amount that has allegedly been stolen. "We'll be filing a motion to dismiss based on this misconduct."

Doyle said he has not seen details of the investigation, but believes Blevins put the comic books up for auction. After they were graded by a reputable auction house, however, the auction house realized the books may have been stolen.

"There were so many, they just decided to take a few," Doyle said. "Talk about a breach of trust."

Blevins was hired as a full-time investigator by the Harris County DA's office in January 2012 and left in December. He began working in San Antonio on Dec. 17.

In Chiofalo's case, the lawyer was hired in 2009 by Tadano America Corp., a company that makes large cranes.

After serving as general counsel for a year, prosecutors said, Chiofalo had Tadano write checks to dummy law firms, which he had set up.

When the alleged scheme was uncovered in June, prosecutors said, Chiofalo fled. He turned himself in at a police station in Rhode Island in December, and remains in the Harris County Jail without bail.

His wife, 51-year-old Susan Chiofalo, was also charged in the alleged scheme. She is free on $100,000 bail. If convicted of felony theft, both face a maximum of life in prison.

Still tracking items

Philip Hilder, an attorney for Tadano, has said the company is working to track down everything that Chiofalo bought to try to recover as much money as possible. "The case against Chiofalo is solid," Hilder said. "But this could have an impact on the amount of restitution in his case."

Bryan Vaclavik, a financial fraud consultant for Tadano, has said that Chiofalo bought hundreds of comic books and sports memorabilia collectibles, including dozens of signed posters and scores of baseball cards, as an investment.

Among hundreds of other valuables uncovered in Chiofalo's home and storage units was a signed first edition of Mario Puzo's novel, "The Godfather," a baseball helmet signed by Pete Rose, and the first issue of Playboy.