Image via WikipediaBy Randy Economywww.Economy4ABC.Blogspot.com
January 6, 2010
4:31 p.m.
The OC
Well, looks like ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona has run out of "Get out Of Jail Free Cards." Yep, after a couple of years of court appeals, ole' Sheriff Mike is heading to Prison.
Today the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford did not abuse his discretion when he declined to grant a defense motion by Carona and his defense team to "suppress evidence based on alleged misconduct."
If you remember, Carona served as Sheriff of Orange County, an elected position, from January 1999 until early 2008, when he resigned following his indictment on various charges including lying to a Grand Jury (yep, can't do that) and witness tampering (nope, can't do that either Mike).
Carona was given a 5½ year term in the Club Fed in April 2009.
Detailed in the 20-plus page ruling today are some of the following points:
During his initial campaign for sheriff in 1998, Carona received financial support from Donald Haidl. Haidl testified at trial that Carona “offered [him] the complete power of the sheriff’s department for raising money and supporting him.”
After Carona took office, Haidl testified that he continued to make payments to Carona. He became concerned that Carona was jeopardizing his position and Haidl’s arrangement by accepting small amounts from other people. Haidl testified that he offered Carona and Assistant Sheriff George Jamarillo each a “bribe not to take bribes” in the amount of $1000 per month, which they accepted. Haidl also testified that he gave Carona a speedboat in 2001, which they concealed through a sham transaction.
In 2004, the federal government began an investigation. In early 2007, Haidl admitted his own criminal misconduct and signed a cooperation plea agreement with the government.
Following this plea agreement, government attorneys instructed Haidl to meet with Carona and to make surreptitious recordings of their meetings. At this time, Carona was represented by attorney Dean Stewart, who had notified the government that he was representing Carona.
Haidl met with Carona on July 7, 2007, and July 15, 2007, but these meetings did not provide enough evidence to satisfy the prosecutors. In preparation for a subsequent meeting, the government equipped Haidl with two fake “subpoena attachments” that identified certain records that Haidl was to tell Carona he had been subpoenaed to produce. These documents referred to cash payments Haidl provided to Carona and to the sham transaction they used to conceal the gift of the speedboat.
Haidl and Carona met again on August 13, 2007, and in their conversation, Carona made statements that suggested both that he had received payments and gifts from Haidl and that he wanted Haidl to lie to the grand jury about these transactions.
Ruling From Court:
The Court issued the final conclusion in the case today:
"It does not appear to us that there was a violation of Rule 2-100 by the prosecutors in this case, but even if there had been, the district court’s decision to deny Carona’s motion to suppress and other requested relief was not an abuse of discretion. Carona’s conduct violated 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(A), and consequently the district court properly denied Carona’s motions to arrest judgment and for a judgment of acquittal."
People's Ruling:
So, when will Sheriff Mike been spending his first night in the Slammer? Not sure. He still has one very small outside chance for another appeal.. But, I along with many others think his days as a free man are just about done. You know, our Judicial system needs to be help accountable at all levels. Crooks are crooks, no mater what type of suits they put on in the morning. My problem with this case is that Mike Corona portrayed himself as the "Hottest Sheriff in America." Sorry, dude. Save it for the Jury. Opps. You already tried that one. See you in like 2016'ish? Hit my comment section. Sound OFF!
