O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona headed for the slammer?

By
Admin
– October 30, 2007Posted in: Classic Juice 2

“Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona has been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a lengthy investigation into allegations that he had misused his office for financial gain, law enforcement officials said Monday,” according to the L.A. Times.

The OC GOP machine was already in trouble this week after word got out that the O.C. Fire Authority was under-funded by Republican leaders led by Carona. And now Carona has been busted by the feds. Yes!

Of course the local OC GOP machine blog, Red County/OC Blog, leaped to the defense of their boy Carona yet again, “I’m not sure what to make of this newest development in the ongoing legal drama surrounding the Sheriff and his activities, but since the LA Times has a history of going after Mike Carona, we all should hold off judgment, at least until this indictment is made available to the public.”

Well, today the story has been picked up by KABC – I just heard about it on the morning TV news. What a great way to start the day!

The Times also reported that the case stems from information provided to the authorities by Carona’s one-time best friend, George Jaramillo. “Federal investigators “were asking questions about Carona’s activities since he was elected sheriff,” Corrado added. Investigators asked Jaramillo specifically about “gifts and monies” Carona had received, the attorney said.”

Here are a few more excerpts from the Times article:

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 politics.

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 background checks or ensuring that they had proper training.

Carona denied that the badges were political favors and said his conduct was proper. 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.

The Times reported in January 2006 that federal officials subpoenaed records from Carona’s reserve deputy program and election committee. This followed disclosures that the government had subpoenaed documents from his charitable foundation.

The full scope of the federal investigation remains unknown. But one apparent focus is a scheme outlined in Jaramillo’s agreement to charges of tax evasion and mail fraud.

Jaramillo’s plea could lead to a sentence of as much as 23 years in prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines. But Corrado said he hoped his client’s cooperation would spare him a lengthy sentence.

The 30-page plea agreement describes Jaramillo’s involvement with individuals identified as “M.C.” and “D.H.” Corrado said the initials stand for Carona and former Assistant Sheriff Donald Haidl.

The O.C. Register is also reporting that “He has been cooperating with federal authorities, he is cooperating and he will continue to cooperate,” said Robert Corrado, Jaramillo’s attorney. “I don’t expect him to do any more time in jail.”

So Jaramillo gave up Carona in order to get out of jail! Good for him. Revenge is a dish best served warm, and Jaramillo just gave Carona a steaming hot platter of it.

The Register summed up Carona’s recent exploits thusly, “Although he was nationally heralded as “America’s Sheriff” after his department helped capture a little girl’s killer, Carona has since faced campaign spending woes, sexual harassment accusations, a tough race for a third term and a controversial jail inmate death.”

Red County also reported today that Carona’s longtime ally, Mike Schroeder, is now in trouble with his party, after he flamed GOP activist Mark Bucher in a string of emails that were copied to party leaders. Bucher asked whether it was a good idea for Schroeder and Trung Nguyen to keep going after Republican incumbent Supervisor Janet Nguyen. Great question…and Schroeder blew up over it. Well, Schroeder and his little amigo Carona now appear to be going down in flames. Oh what a great day for Orange County!!!

Let’s see how Carona flunkie and Red County/OC Blog editor Matt “Jubal” Cunningham spins his way out of this one… For the record, the bloggers at the Orange Juice have been critical of Carona for some time. We have hammered him time and time again, and I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am to finally see him getting what he deserves. Our friends at the OC Weekly have also consistently opposed Carona. You can read a list of their anti-Carona stories here.

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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.