House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi's former accountant, Richard Vitale, was indicted on Thursday for improperly lobbying and contributing money to officials in connection to his efforts to allegedly ensure the passage of ticket brokering legislation.

At a press conference, Attorney General Martha Coakley (D-Medford) said Vitale faces seven charges - four that he violated the lobbyist limit on campaign contributions, one that he entered into an illegal agreement for compensation based on the passage of that bill, and two that he failed to file timely registration statements in 2007 and 2008.

Vitale's company, WN Advisors, was also indicted on three charges. Two of those charges are for allegedly failing to register in a timely manner and one is for allegedly entering into an illegal legislative agreement contingent on the legislation passing.

Coakley's office said Vitale communicated with DiMasi (D-Boston) and Speaker Pro-Tempore Thomas Petrolati (D-Ludlow) "on multiple occasions in an attempt to promote ticket resale legislation on behalf of" the Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers. The investigation found that Vitale arranged for meetings between the ticket brokers association and DiMasi and Petrolati and met privately with them to discuss the legislation, Coakley's office said.

Coakley said the investigation began in June of this year after a referral from Secretary of State William Galvin after it found that ticket brokers association violated lobbying laws in paying WN Advisors $60,000.

The investigation also found that Vitale allegedly forwarded emails from representatives of the ticket brokers association to DiMasi's personal email address. On at least one occasion, the investigators found that Vitale allegedly emailed DiMasi a specific change to the bill.

Vitale, on behalf of WN Advisors, also allegedly signed an agreement with the ticket brokers association that would have guaranteed them $20,000 in additional compensation if the legislation passed.

Coakley did not say whether DiMasi or Petrolati did anything illegal.

The ticket resale legislation passed in the House but eventually stalled in the state Senate.

Martin Weinberg, Vitale's lawyer, told the Boston Globe that his client has done nothing wrong.

"This demonstrates that despite a pretty intensive state grand jury there is no evidence of felonies," Weinberg said.

A spokesman for DiMasi did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. 

With regard to the campaign finance violations, the investigation alleges that Vitale made four contributions that exceeded the $200 lobbyist limit. Coakley's office did not say to whom those contributions were allegedly made.

Vitale and WN Advisors face the possibility of $30,000 in fines if convicted of all the charges of making an illegal agreement based on the passage of the bill. For the alleged campaign contribution violations, Vitale faces imprisonment for not more than six months or a fine of $500 per count. Consequently, Vitale faces the possibility of two years in prison or additional fines of up to $2,000.