Dressed in a grey suit and thin-rimmed glasses, Mark Melchiori pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 47 felony charges including embezzlement, insurance and wage fraud, and diverting construction funds. The 49-year-old former head of Melchiori Construction spoke once to Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Michael Carrozzo to say he agreed to a preliminary hearing setting on September 6 before Judge Clifford Anderson.
Casey Nelson and Carl Barnes of the county District Attorney's Office agreed to defense attorney Josh Lynn’s request to appear in court for Melchiori until “crucial moments” in the case. “[My] client lives distinctly out of county,” said Lynn. According to his location on Twitter, Melchiori was living in the San Francisco Bay area as of March 2015. He is currently employed as Executive Vice President of the Morgan Hill-based Corinthian Development Company. On its webpage, the company calls itself “a developer of premiere hospitality, retail, healthcare, and themed entertainment destinations.”
In court on Tuesday, Carrozzo granted prosecuting attorneys access to a sealed envelope with, he said, “what feels like a flash drive inside it” addressed to American Riviera Bank.