Former EC library director pleads not guilty to tax charges
By Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com October 16, 2012 2:30PM
Manny Montalvo in 2008. | File Photo~Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 18, 2012 6:50AM
The former director of the East Chicago Public Library pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to charges of filing false tax returns.
The U.S. Attorney’s office announced last month that it was charging Manuel Montalvo, 38, with lying on his income tax returns for the years 2009 and 2010 by padding his unreimbursed business and health care expenses by a total of $80,577.
Montalvo has been released on a $20,000 bond. At the Tuesday arraignment in Hammond, U.S. Judge Andrew Rodovich set Montalvo’s trial for Dec. 10. His attorney, Ray Szarmach, said they were still waiting to get discovery evidence from federal attorneys.
This isn’t the first time Montalvo has been in legal trouble. He had to serve a year of court supervision and perform 40 hours of community service after he was found guilty in 2010 of battery against two South Shore commuter railroad police officers, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. The charges stemmed from a fight he got into with police while trying to get onto a South Shore train.
Montalvo was fired from his position with the library in 2011 after the Indiana State Board of Accounts raised questions about the library’s spending.
