DiMatteo released from jail

By Kathryn Reed

Gino DiMatteo on Sept. 12 was released from El Dorado County jail in Placerville on bail.

Ted Long is DiMatteo’s attorney of record. He is working with the Woelfel Law Firm in South Lake Tahoe. Rob Woelfel represented DiMatteo in court Wednesday because Long was out of town, however he was not immediately available for comment.

DiMatteo was arrested Aug. 31 on multiple drug charges and bribery. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Gino DiMatteo

DiMatteo until earlier this summer ran a medical marijuana dispensary in town. However, a felon was not supposed to ever be able to open such a business in South Lake Tahoe.

South Lake Tahoe officials said a background check, including fingerprints, was done on DiMatteo but nothing surfaced that would have stopped the process.

Even though those records should go back forever, DiMatteo’s 1999 weapons conviction did not surface. This could in part be because DiMatteo also goes by Sergio Franco Ottomanelli and this was not known at the time.

The form DiMatteo had to fill out with the city asked if he had been convicted of a crime in the last 10 years. It did not ask if he went by any other names.

South Lake Tahoe City Councilwoman Angela Swanson is the elected official the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office says DiMatteo bribed. She has not been charged with any crime.

Swanson is not returning calls. Neither is James Clinchard, the El Dorado County deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.