cop corruption

[kola]

Corrupt California cop nets $200K annual retirement
by J. Muir taxdollars blog
Monday Oct 6th, 2008 5:45 PM
One of the last members of indicted Sheriff Mike Carona's executive team retired last month, and it looks like he's going to be collecting more money throughout his golden years than his former boss.
Assistant Sheriff Charles Walters was the last Carona executive hire left on staff after the sheriff retired amid federal charges that he was using his office to collect cash and gifts from friends in exchange for favors.

In case you don't remember, Walters was in charge of the the sheriff's jail operations in Oct. 2006 when inmate John Derek Chamberlain was beaten to death by other inmates at Theo Lacy jail. While Chamberlain was being attacked, jail guards 68 feet away were busy watching television and text messaging. (Walters is pictured above in May, giving a tour at Theo Lacy.)

In his last 12 months at the department, Walters earned a total of $343,033.61, including base pay (most recently at $92.86/hour), payouts from all the vacation and sick hours he's accumulated since he started working at the department 33 years ago, holiday comp time and an auto allowance.

With the help of some employees at the county's retirement system, The Watchdog has estimated that $224,564 of that cash is eligible to be considered in calculating his retirement benefit. We crunched the numbers in the county's retirement calculator, which tells us that Walters is collecting about $18,714 a month or $223,218 a year in retirement.

Yes, that's only about $1,300 less per year than he was making while working.

The Watchdog reported in July that Carona is collecting $207,979/year since he left the department ... also about the same amount of cash he was pocketing while on the job.

So The Watchdog was curious: Did someone sweeten the pot to get Walters to retire?

We called Walters first, and he declined to talk about it.

Called the Sheriff's Department second. Spokesman John McDonald would say only that no one forced Walters out–he left on his own accord.

Brooke De Baca from the county CEO's office helped provide some insight. De Baca confirmed that Walters got two raises in 2008: A 2 percent raise in January, and a 3 percent raise in June.

Both were scheduled increases given at the same time as other employees. And none of the raises included increases to the extra pay Walters could collect.

In case you're curious, though, here's a breakdown of the extras from this year that helped him cash out so much dough in 2008:

* Auto allowance: $6,835.72
* Holiday comp pay: $13,369.28
* Optional Benefit: $4,500.00
* Sick leave retirement payout: $56,115.30*
* Sick leave annual payout: $27,542.28
* Vacation Annual Payout: $3,606.40
* Vacation Retirement Payout: $43,726.23

*(Note: According to the Orange County Employee Retirement System, exec employees with the same contract as Walters can only apply 96 hours of this payout toward retirement, which is about $8,914 based on his most recent pay rate).

All in all, The Watchdog is wondering if it's too late to switch to a career in Criminal Justice.



http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2008...

[kola]

Posted on Monday, October 29, 2007 11:49:28 PM by BurbankKarl

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona has been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a lengthy investigation into allegations that he misused his office for financial gain, law enforcement officials said Monday.

The indictment, filed under seal, is expected to be made public soon, perhaps as early as Tuesday, officials said.

Carona's longtime political advisor and attorney, Michael Schroeder, said federal authorities had not questioned the sheriff, nor officially informed him that he was the target of a federal investigation. Schroeder, who was in Amsterdam on business, also said that rumors of the investigation had not distracted Carona from his job

"He's focused on the fires," said Schroeder, who does not represent Carona on criminal matters.

Carona's defense attorney, H. Dean Steward, did not return a call to his cellphone. The sheriff did not respond to a request for an interview.

An indictment would mark a spectacular fall for the 52-year-old sheriff, who only five years ago was widely seen as a rising star in California Republican Party politics. Carona received widespread attention in 2002 after he led the search for the killer of a 5-year-old girl, Samantha Runnion, whose kidnapping and murder captivated the nation. In the months after that case, Carona was often mentioned as a possible candidate for lieutenant governor on a slate with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But even as he gained attention in the political realm, Carona was coming under attack from critics who accused him of improper management and ethical lapses. His conduct had hurt the department's integrity and morale, according to the critics, who pointed in particular to allegations that he had issued badges and concealed-weapons permits to campaign contributors without proper training or background checks. Carona denied the badges were political favors and said his conduct was proper.


(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...

[kola]

yeah..just "one bad apple" huh?????????

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Michael Carona's 'love nest' discussed in the ex-O.C. sheriff's corruption trial


A friend of Debra Hoffman, Carona's former mistress, says the lovers opened a bank account 'to hide money from everybody.' Other witnesses describe an alleged money laundering scheme.
By Christine Hanley
October 31, 2008

The longtime mistress of former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona considered her law office a "love nest" for herself and Carona, and set up a savings account for the two of them under an obscure name because she thought that would help keep it secret, according to a witness at Carona's corruption trial.

"It was my understanding this account was to hide money from everybody," George Feles testified Thursday.



Complete coverage: The Michael Carona... Photos: The players in the caseFeles, an accountant, provided the first intimate details of the affair between Carona and Debra V. Hoffman. Their relationship had been rumored for years but was not confirmed until last year when the government disclosed the romance in its indictment.

Other witnesses testified Thursday that Carona's wife knew about a campaign money-laundering scheme, and that Carona let former Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl pick up the $5,000 tab for custom-made suits and shirts.

Carona and Hoffman are on trial on charges they traded the powers of his office for more than $700,000 in cash and gifts for themselves and others, including Carona's wife and former assistant sheriffs Haidl and George Jaramillo. Haidl and Jaramillo have pleaded guilty to lesser charges and have been cooperating with the government for more than a year. Deborah Carona awaits a separate trial.


Jeff Rawitz and Brian A. Sun of the law firm Jones Day, which is representing Carona free of charge, maintain that the government's case will crumble because it is built on unreliable witnesses, including convicted felons and perjurers who victimized the sheriff in their own race for money and power. These witnesses are now making allegations against Carona because they are hoping to win leniency in their own corruption cases, the lawyers say.

Feles, who took the stand late Thursday, said he knew Hoffman because he did the books for the law partnership of Jaramillo, Hoffman and Associates, when the firm was used as the headquarters of Carona's first campaign in 1998. Feles said his office and the law firm were in the same Santa Ana building.

After Hoffman left the partnership and went into solo practice, Feles said he remained a friend and visited her at her new office. He described it as a "small, cramped space" inside a preschool that "looked like you were looking into the back of a closet."

While he was there, Feles testified, Hoffman confided to him that she had been having an affair with Carona. He said he was surprised to learn "that they had been together for quite some time," dating back to when she and Jaramillo were partners.

Hoffman told him that she and Carona would rendezvous at the new office, Feles testified, and that she referred to it as "a love nest, or something like that."

Feles also testified that he agreed to help set up a company called Bersagliere of Pacoima. He said Hoffman told him the purpose was to "put money in the account so her and Mr. Carona could have something later."

Feles is expected to resume his testimony today.

In earlier testimony Thursday, Haidl's longtime pilot said Deborah Carona was aware that money was being laundered into her husband's first campaign in a scheme to flout a law limiting individual contributions to $1,000.

The pilot, Mark Dilullo, said that Deborah Carona was present when he handed a batch of five $1,000 checks to Haidl at his Newport Beach home, and that she witnessed Haidl reimbursing him with cash. Deborah Carona was keeping a ledger and taking notes, Dilullo testified.

"Mr. Haidl gave me the money in front of Mrs. Carona, put the checks down in front of Mrs. Carona, and there was accounting going on at the time," Dilullo said under cross-examination by Rawitz.

Dilullo said he went along with the plan, and encouraged others, including his own parents, to write checks even though he knew it was illegal.

Under further questioning, Dilullo testified that as far as he knew, Haidl had nothing but good intentions when he expanded a reserve deputy program. The goal was to bring in business executives and other professionals who would volunteer their time, skills and resources to the department.

Dilullo was followed on the witness stand by Prtap Chugh, Haidl's longtime tailor. He testified that in 1998 and 1999, Carona ordered nearly $5,000 worth of custom-made suits and shirts paid for by Haidl.

Chugh, who has been in business in San Bernardino County for 17 years, said he first met Carona in June 1998, when he was summoned to Haidl's home to measure Carona and Jaramillo. The jury was shown pictures taken that day of both the men's postures, and copies of orders and invoices that backed up his testimony.

Carona ordered three suits and three shirts that month, Chugh testified, at a cost of $3,491. Jaramillo ordered three suits and four shirts. Haidl paid for both orders, Chugh said.

The following year, Haidl spent $1,346.88 for an additional suit and three shirts for Carona, according to Chugh and documents shown in court.

Chugh also said he wrote a $1,000 campaign check for Carona at Haidl's request, and was later reimbursed. Chugh said he was repaid for his donation by billing Haidl through his business. At the time, he had not met Carona and said he would not have made the contribution if Haidl had not promised to pay him back.

Hanley is a Times staff writer.

christine.hanley@latimes.com




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