Film tax-credit program too much to handle

Former Iowa Film Office manager Thomas Wheeler, on the stand today in his own defense, said he was unprepared to handle the film tax-credit program.

Wheeler, 42, of Indianola, has pleaded not guilty to charges of felony misconduct in office, first-degree fraudulent practices and conspiracy. He's on trial in Polk County District Court.

During today's testimony, Wheeler said he was hired in January 2004 for a job that mostly entailed marketing the state to prospective filmmakers and providing customer service within the state's tourism division – duties for which he felt qualified and capable of providing.

Things changed, he said, when state lawmakers approved a film tax-credit program in 2007. The Iowa Department of Economic Development program provided a 25 percent tax credit for production expenditures made in Iowa and a 25 percent tax credit for investors for projects that spent at least $100,000 in Iowa.

Wheeler said initially he was excited about the prospects of Iowa being competitive in the film industry, but he also realized he had no education or training in dealing with the intricacies of a tax-credit program he was being asked to implement.

Asked by defense attorney Angela Campbell if he was prepared to tackle this new assignment, Wheeler said, “At the time, I thought so.”

“Were you?” Campbell asked.

“No,” Wheeler replied. “I thought I knew what I was getting into. In hindsight, it's clear that I had no idea.”

Prosecutors allege that Wheeler, who was fired in September 2009 after an independent audit revealed abuse and mismanagement of the film tax-credit program, acted as “an inside man” to help filmmakers fleece the Iowa treasury for millions of dollars.

The defense has portrayed Wheeler as a low-level manager with no expertise in the movie industry who was put in charge of an ill-conceived but lucrative state program that “spiraled into a giant mess” because of inadequate staffing, training, direction, oversight and parameters.

Wheeler is slated to continue testifying in his own defense and answering prosecutor' cross examination today. The case is expected to go to the jury later this week.

In other developments today, District Judge Douglas Staskal excused a woman juror because of  illness and replaced her with one of two women alternates.

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