A former concert promoter who brought big-name acts like Mariah Carey, Brooks & Dunn and Snoop Dogg to Tucson has been indicted by a state grand jury on 204 counts of fraud, money laundering and theft.
Prosecutors outlined a Ponzi-type scheme that promised extraordinary returns to investors who financed concert promotions.
The state Attorney General's Office accused Bradley J. Nozicka, former CEO of the now-closed City Limits Inc. and co-manager of Cal Productions, and four co-defendants of bilking at least 125 well-heeled investors of more than $26 million between June 2002 and February 2006.
Prosecutors allege the group — Nozicka of Tucson, his Cal Productions partner William James Galyon Jr., Nova Michaels of Phoenix and Phoenix-area estate attorneys Robert J. Rosepink and Alfred J. Olsen — sold promissory notes to investors with inflated interest rates of return, according to an 88-page indictment handed up May 14 and served last Thursday. The money was to supposed to fund big-name concerts in Tucson and Phoenix, but instead also helped support lavish lifestyles for Nozicka and Galyon, the indictment alleges.
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Cal Productions staged a number of big-name concerts in Tucson including Brooks & Dunn, Mariah Carey and Martina McBride, and smaller concerts at its affiliated nightclub, City Limits, that included Belinda Carlisle, Indigo Girls, Trick Pony and the Rev. Horton Heat.
In addition to theft and fraud, the indictment accuses the group of participating in a criminal enterprise and securities fraud. Convictions could result in up to 56 years in prison.
The five were to be arraigned in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix on Wednesday, but a scheduling problem caused the proceeding to be rescheduled to June 11, court officials said.
The criminal charges come two years after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge slapped a hold on Cal Productions' assets, which included City Limits on East Tanque Verde Road. Nozicka and Galyon were sued at least six times in Maricopa County in 2006 by investors who claimed they were owed millions by Cal Productions or related businesses owned or run by the pair.
The plaintiffs in those suits claimed they loaned millions to Cal Productions and associated companies that promoted concerts, including one deal that involved country-music superstar Garth Brooks. The lawsuits claim some of the promised concerts never occurred and Cal Productions didn't repay money as promised even as they tried to secure new loans to repay existing debt.
"Basically (they) were doing a Ponzi scheme," said investor Jim Heath of Phoenix, who said he lost $150,000. "(Galyon) basically misrepresented everything. He lied about his financials."
Heath said his attorney, Rosepink, himself an investor, persuaded him to invest with Galyon's company, Enti Capital LLC. Enti was positioned as the investment arm of concert promoter Cal Productions.
Heath said Rosepink had done a background check on Enti. He also was impressed with the caliber of investors, which court papers identified as including doctors, lawyers, executives and celebrities.
Heath said investors were paid 20 percent interest every quarter.
"It was a sweet deal. I was in for almost a year and was making great (returns). Everything was good," Heath said.
But then an investor with $5 million tied up got nervous and pulled out, which set the Ponzi scheme on its tail end, Heath said.
The indictment charges that Rosepink raked in $900,000 in commissions for recruiting investors among his wealthy clients. On Wednesday, he referred comments to his attorney, Edward F. Novak.
Novak said he had not read the indictment and could not comment until after the June 11 hearing.
Nozicka also could not be reached for comment. No attorney was listed on court records.
Nozicka started Cal Productions in 1992 with the idea to "keep it small," he said in a 2002 Star interview within a year of bringing such big-name artists as Rascal Flatts, Snoop Dogg, Blues Traveler and the Black Crowes to Tucson. "As long as I feel warm and fuzzy about how things are going, we'll continue to grow," Nozicka said then.
He closed the company abruptly in mid-March 2006 after several lawsuits were filed against him. Former Cal Productions employees said the company had started spiraling out of control months earlier, when Nozicka and Galyon couldn't raise enough money to cover payroll. The number of concerts decreased from several a week to one every week or two.
Former Cal Productions general manager Kiri Gragg said Nozicka increasingly withdrew from daily operations. He stopped taking phone calls or answering his door at the club; she finally resorted to contacting him via faxes to his home.
"You could go and pound on that VIP door (at City Limits) and you weren't getting in," Gragg said Wednesday. "At some point I stopped trying. It wasn't like I needed him for anything. I knew where the company was going and we were going to limp along as best we could. And that's what we did."
Gragg said she knew nothing about the financial dealings with City Limits or Cal, but she said the company seemed to live beyond its means. Seven full-time employees staffed the concert-promotions operation and another 20 to 30 worked at City Limits. When Nozicka traveled, it was always on private jets and he regularly hired limousines to take him to and from concerts, she said.
"For Brad it was all the image. It was the office and the plane," Gragg said. "It was the image of what they were doing. The office had all the fancy guitars and the pictures. When these investors would come in … they would go lock themselves into the conference room and that would be it."
In addition to his Tucson operations, Nozicka also managed Tucson country singer Troy Olsen and set him up in Nashville, Tenn., with a place to live and a home studio. Olsen could not be reached for comment, but last summer he said he was no longer affiliated with Nozicka.
