Woman charged with impersonating district attorney
ELKHORN — A Lake Geneva woman is accused of sending fake letters from the Walworth County District Attorney’s Office to derail a pending jury trial on her friend’s sixth drunken driving charge.
Michelle E. Irwin, 31, sent letters to state witnesses who might have testified against Mark “Tony” Cantieri in a Walworth County jury trial in June, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday.
The letters told witnesses that the trial was canceled, according to the complaint.
The drunken driving charge was based on Cantieri’s night of drinking at a strip club, following his completion earlier that day of an intensive outpatient treatment program for alcohol abuse, according to court records.
Cantieri and Irwin were in a relationship at the time of the pending trial. Cantieri pleaded with Irwin to do something to halt his prosecution, according to the complaint.
During their discussion, Cantieri and Irwin came to believe that if no one testified, there would be no charges. Irwin told investigators that she thought up the idea of sending phony letters, according to the complaint.
Irwin faces four felony charges of identity theft. Each count carries a jail term of up to six years.
Instead of going to trial, Cantieri pled guilty to sixth-offense drunken driving, a felony. He is serving a three-year prison term.
According to the complaint:
Irwin had Walworth County stationery and envelopes from previous legal matters. She used the cut and paste function on her computer to create the error-riddled letters.
She signed the name of Assistant District Attorney Steven J. Madson, but misspelled it as Madsen.
The letters had photocopied black and white district attorney logos. The real logos are in color.
The Madson signatures were easily recognized as Irwin’s handwriting.
The district attorney became aware of the letters when the father of a witness called the prosecutor’s office to inquire about the case.
The tangled cases are rooted to Cantieri’s late August 2009 arrest for drunken driving following an argument with a girlfriend, according to court records.
The girlfriend was not identified in court records.
The couple that night was at the Vegas Gentleman’s Club in Darien Township until about 2:30 a.m.
After his truck wouldn’t start, Cantieri tried to leave the club in his girlfriend’s car. She tried to stop him but was elbowed in the mouth, according to court records. Her daughter called police, and Cantieri was arrested.
Cantieri told police he had drank six beers and four shots, according to court records.
Irwin remains free on bond.
Her next court appearance is Oct. 13.
Sep 20, 2010 at 8:37 p.m.
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916WI. Thank God noone got hurt. It obviously was not for the lack of trying. This person only got caught 6 times. I'm sure they didn't only get behind the wheel 6 times while under the influence. Russian Roulette, if you ask me. Let me hear you say "It's just a glorified traffic violation" and "3 yrs is plenty" after he slams into your family!
Sep 20, 2010 at 7:56 p.m.
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and a domestic battery....and drunk driving...but if it's "just" to you, then, by all means, let's let the "rehabilitated" guy out to drive again, cuz you KNOW he will...and by the way, this story isn't really about the guy...it's about the girlfriend who doesn't quite understand laws either...
Sep 20, 2010 at 12:50 p.m.
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Three years is more than enough punishment for the crime. It's a glorified traffic violation--no one was hurt or injured. It irritates me that almost $100,000 of taxpayer dollars are going to be spent keeping this guy in jail to serve his sentence........
Sep 20, 2010 at 12:17 p.m.
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My goodness! What a great guy to take home and meet Mum!
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RE: spelling issues - I get the biggest kick out of posters who have an issue with misspellers and then can't spell themselves.
Sep 19, 2010 at 7:01 p.m.
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yeah, this is exactly WHY the DA's offices have to do so much plea bargaining! There are so many cases of people who can't follow the rules, there just isn't enough time in the day/year to prosecute every case (and give the criminals the speedy trial they are afforded in their rights)! I get and totally understand the cycles of addiction and this man CLEARLY has an alcohol addiction. It appears he also has a violence issue, a relationship/commitment issue and perhaps a personality disorder. He needs help, but so does the "friend" who is obvioulsy struggling with many of the same addictions/disorders/issues as the guy is. That is NOT the kind of help he needs!!
There are too many who (wrongly) think they can either "buck" the system or feel that law enforcement is picking on them...never mind that they have problems following rules.
This is NOT the DA Office's fault!
Sep 19, 2010 at 6:33 p.m.
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I can see helping out a friend who got 1 OWI. Bail them out, pick them up. Assist them in getting help for possible drinking problem, council them, etc...But, after that that friend is on thier own. After this so-called "friends" 6th OWI, she should have kicked her ass and insisted on her going into treatment or get her head out of her ass...This is just absurd.
Sep 19, 2010 at 1:38 p.m.
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Misspullings are an indication of the unedujcated.
Sep 19, 2010 at 12:50 p.m.
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carlitosway, these posts are always like this. They are getting worse daily. People seem to be getting meaner and meaner on here. The Gazette does nothing about it. Who gives a hoot about spelling, if you misspell, oh well, deal with it!! As for this woman, she should get some serious punishment. And why in the world would 2 women (old girlfriend, new girlfriend) go to strip joints with this guy? If my hubby did the strip joint thing, he would be single right now! JMO
Sep 19, 2010 at 9:02 a.m.
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To all the perfect spellers on here if you understand the mis-spelled word then deal with it and so what if it is spelled wrong it is not something that is your business, if you have an issue with it JUST READ WHAT YOU WRITE THEN you can stay in your "perfect mind" I Am not perfect nor as anyone else and to look at a mis-spelled word to put someone down in here makes me wonder about the ones looking to find fault in others to hide their own faults... JMO
Sep 19, 2010 at 8:54 a.m.
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Now if she would have sent "text" messages with sexual content she wouldn't be in this trouble. IMO Oops, thats right he was a real ADA and they can do that.....
Sep 19, 2010 at 6:11 a.m.
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3 Years after being caught 6 times? Wisconsin really needs to get tougher with this crap. Imagine it would have been 4 years if he had killed someone. And this after his completion earlier that day of an intensive outpatient treatment program for alcohol abuse. Yep that worked. As for this woman I agree she did work harder on this than most DA's sign her up.
Sep 18, 2010 at 11:10 p.m.
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Who says Wisconsin isn't serious about drunk driving? After ONLY six offenses, you can get a whopping three years!
Sep 18, 2010 at 10:16 p.m.
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prevention, was your mis-spelling on purpose or can't you spell either?
Sep 18, 2010 at 9:27 p.m.
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And she couldn't even spell the guy's name write. What an idiot to even think of and to follow through with doing it!!
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