A former assistant district attorney agreed to accept sexual favors from a defendant in exchange for helping her with her child-custody case, prosecutors allege in a federal criminal complaint filed Monday in Tulsa federal court.
A U.S. magistrate approved an arrest warrant Monday for Daniel Thomas Giraldi, 44, of Joplin, Missouri, an attorney who worked in the District Attorney’s Office for District 13. The district includes Ottawa and Delaware counties.
The warrant was based on an affidavit submitted by the FBI in support of Giraldi’s arrest.
The affidavit alleges that Giraldi violated laws pertaining to bribery of a public official, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, possessing a controlled drug and using a cellular phone in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Giraldi worked in the District 13 office from 2019 until Wednesday, according to the affidavit.
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Prior to becoming an assistant district attorney, he worked in a private law firm, the document says.
It was while Giraldi worked as a defense attorney in the private law firm that he began accepting sexual favors from women in exchange for helping others facing criminal charges and as payment for services rendered, the FBI alleges in the affidavit.
The current allegations stem from an encounter between Giraldi and a confidential FBI source outside the Ottawa County Courthouse on April 12, according to the affidavit.
In the interaction, recorded by the FBI, the confidential source asked Giraldi to look into her child custody case and the case of another person.
During the exchange, Giraldi is alleged to have asked the confidential source about past sexual encounters between the pair.
Later, Giraldi sent the woman text messages to set up a sexual encounter “in exchange for the performance of an act pertaining to his position as an Ottawa County ADA,” prosecutors allege in the complaint.
The woman and Giraldi met just after noon last Tuesday at a home in Quapaw, and during the encounter Giraldi is alleged to have said, “Here’s some goodies for you,” while pulling from a shirt pocket a bag of pills that later tested positive for Clonazepam and Oxycodone, according to the affidavit.
It was at this time that FBI agents entered the room and confronted Giraldi, who, according to the affidavit, agreed to talk to investigators after being read his rights.
During the interview with the FBI, Giraldi admitted to checking to see if the woman had any arrest warrants in an anticipated exchange for sexual favors, the affidavit says.
He also admitted to giving the woman the controlled drugs in exchange for sexual favors, the document says.
Giraldi also was traveling with a bag containing a box of condoms with a receipt for their purchase dated that day, according to the affidavit.
He made an initial appearance in front of a judge Monday afternoon, according to court records. He was released on an unsecured $10,000 bond, records show.
Kenny Wright, District 13 district attorney, said he learned about the FBI investigation Tuesday afternoon from U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Wright said in an interview that he fired Giraldi on Wednesday after the assistant district attorney did not come to work.
Wright said Giraldi had no prior disciplinary actions while working in his office.
“I and my office stand ready to continue to assist in the investigation in any way,” Wright said in a prepared statement. “I requested the Oklahoma Attorney General to oversee the state-level investigation and potential prosecution of Giraldi.
“Although all defendants are innocent until proven guilty, I have the utmost faith in both the United States Attorney and the Oklahoma Attorney General to ensure justice is served.”
