By Steve Neavling
Former “Arsenio Hall Show” music director Robin DiMaggio was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in federal prison, followed by one-year home confinement, for embezzling nearly $1 million intended for a charity concert for children who lost their homes because of wars.
The 49-year-old drummer pledged to help get famous musicians and celebrities to perform at the concert by the Peace for You Peace for Me Foundation, a Bulgaria-based nonprofit. To do that, he said he needed money to book the artists, so the foundation’s sponsor wired him nearly $1 million.
Instead of using the money for the concert, he spent more than $250,000 on a Calabasas home for his ex-wife, $35,000 for a car for his mother, and $24,000 for a car for his son. In addition, he wired $150,000 to his company’s bank account.
None of the money was spent on the concert.
United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who sentenced DiMaggio, said his actions were “a despicable crime of sheer greed.”
A restitution hearing will be scheduled in the coming homes.
“The concert never happened and this much-needed money was never raised for this charitable cause,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “[DiMaggio] lined his own pockets at the expense of [the foundation’s financial sponsor] and the children that would have benefited from the concert’s proceeds.”
The FBI investigated the embezzlement.
