Newport Beach businessman Patrick Di Carlo had been investigated by the Orange County district attorney's office for so long that he said it amounted to harassment. He thought it was time for a new district attorney.
Tony Rackauckas was an Orange County judge known as an independent thinker who believed in giving people who deserved it second chances.
When Rackauckas ran for top prosecutor five years ago, Di Carlo quickly became one of his biggest supporters, contributing thousands of dollars to the campaign and mingling with potential donors at fund-raisers.
The campaign spawned a relationship that culminated on the night of Rackauckas' inauguration, when the new district attorney slipped into a tuxedo and celebrated at Di Carlo's Mediterranean villa overlooking Newport Bay.
Within three years, however, the friendship became a focus of investigations by the grand jury and state attorney general as well as the catalyst for a battle that continues to divide the office.
Last June, the Orange County Grand Jury issued a civil report accusing Rackauckas of abusing his power to help several friends and campaign contributors, including Di Carlo. Among its findings, the panel faulted Rackauckas for reassigning an investigator who was looking into Di Carlo's business practices.
Even though no law enforcement agency filed any charges against Rackauckas or Di Carlo, questions about this unlikely friendship persist, particularly in the district attorney's office.
Friends describe Di Carlo, 65, as gregarious and generous, a man who turns routine business meetings into social engagements and whose face lights up when talking about his seven children.
But according to interviews, court records and regulatory documents, Di Carlo has made false statements on a concealed-weapons permit application and in bank and SEC reports.
He's been sued at least 25 times since 1976 and was ordered to pay damages totaling nearly $3 million in 13 of those cases. He has said that he attended USC, played on the school's football team and worked as an assistant football coach, but later admitted those claims were untrue.
Di Carlo, who now runs an investment consulting firm with his son, denied some of the accusations against him and said the rest are distortions -- regarding innocent mistakes that should not reflect on his character, or Rackauckas'. He said he's an ethical businessman who has been unfairly hounded for years by authorities.
