- *Orange County indictment
What had been the subject of rumors for months - even years - is finally being confirmed today, as the sheriff of Orange County, Calif., Mike Carona, is being indicted on federal corruption charges. It appears that Carona's one-time friend, former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, did him in. Jaramillo cut a plea agreement in which he admitted collecting cash and gifts worth about $45,000 and filing false income tax returns concealing the income. And yes, he's cooperating with the feds - has been for some time. Carona has been under fire forever - critics claim, just to take one example, that he issued badges and concealed-weapons permits to campaign contributors without background checks. Carona denied that the badges were political favors. From the LAT:
Despite attacks on his character and repeated calls for his resignation, Carona was narrowly reelected to a third term as sheriff in 2006. By then, however, state and federal investigations into his conduct had begun. In August, the state Fair Political Practices Commission agreed to a settlement in which Carona paid a fine of $15,000 for eight incidents in which he had billed his campaign committee for thousands of dollars in non-itemized expenses that he listed only as "loans." Those charges arose after The Times reported last year that Carona had billed his elections committee for an estimated $130,000 in loans from 2001 to 2003 that were actually expenses.
*Update: The unsealed indictment alleges that Carona accepted tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts for himself, his wife and his former longtime mistress (the women, Debbie Carona and Deborah Hoffman, were also indicted). The gifts included cash payments of as much as $112,000, a boat, a trip to Lake Tahoe and ringside tickets to the Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad title fight in Vegas. Carona faces 105 years in prison if found guilty on all charges. (LAT)
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| 09:44 AM Oct 30, 2007 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
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