The Lagunajournal website has a great deal of information on Orange County Sheriff, now ex sheriff Mike Carona. Looking through it, I found this story that I have never heard of before today.

This really angers me, as it should all of us. How is this a justifiable shooting?

The Orange County Sheriffs yesterday, were testing a new type of gun. The gun has a camera built into it so there is a record of the shooting from the officers perspective. The crying from the cops over this technology is a post in itself, seems they believe a camera to be unfair and biased… yes, the camera has a point of view that can not be twisted, the suspect either had a gun or did not… that seems to scare them. Why?

The writer of this Commentary is a minor. Name is withheld.

Off Duty U.S. Customs officer shoots unarmed 19-year old Arab-American in head and face according to eye witness’s. Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona ’s spokesmen stated that officer committed no wrong-doing and did not even take him in for questioning.

This incident happened about 15 minutes from my house in the Madrid apartment complex in Mission Viejo, CA on Feb 5, 2005.

As far as a political discussion, this would probably fall under the same category as Amadou Diallo Case, and Abner Louima in an example of law enforcement brutality bordering on outright criminality. Here are the relevant facts:

Early in the morning on Saturday February the 6th around 1:30 am, Bassim Chmait along with three other friends were walking through an apartment complex heading towards a college house party. As they were walking through the apartment complex one of the neighbors threw a soda can at them from above. In frustration, one of the young boys threw the can into the street, and continued walking down the pathway of the apartment heading to the party. At that point Douglas Bates, an off duty U.S. Custom’s officer, left his home with his badge in hand and gun drawn confronting the group of 4 to 6 friends. . he started to yell at them, and when the group of boys turned around, they saw the provoker yelling at them about laughing and being too loud, he was heading towards them pointing his gun a them with a badge in the other hand, yelling “You don’t want to fuck with a cop, do you?” Apparently he was upset at the noise and commotion. Mr. Bates then pistol whipped one member of the group. The aggressor was an off duty border patrol/homeland security officer who was not in uniform, his name is Douglas Bates. The four unarmed boys were questioning him, asking why he was pointing his gun at them and begging him to put it down. One of the four boys that were there kept asking the gunman to stop pointing the barrel of the gun in his friends direction. Because of that, the aggressor pistol-whipped his friend on the forehead w/ the gun. Anticipating that the provoker was going to hit his friend again Chmait Bassim got in front of his friends telling the man to please put the gun down. Almost instantly the off duty cop shot Bassim in the head and face by Douglas Bates. After shooting Bassim, Mr. Bates simply walked back into his apartment. While friends were screaming about what happened to Bassim, neighbors dialed 911. About 5 minutes later the murderer opened his door, with the gun still in hand and yelled at neighbors to shut up, and he want back inside his apartment.

This story comes straight from four witnesses, and neighbors that were there when the murder took place, they saw and heard everything that occurred that night.

You would think that this would be an easy case to prosecute. You would think that Douglas Bates is in jail right now. But he’s not, he’s a free man, he was never arrested, he was never charged, he was never even asked to come to the police station to give a statement. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Spokesman, Jim Amormino stated, “We treated this the same as we would any case. There was no clear evidence of a crime being committed, so there was nothing to book him on.”

Here are the reports that this information was taken from:

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not falsifying, it’s EDITING…

“I don’t think it was my intention to mislead the grand jury,” Galisky testified, when called before the new set of jurors in January 2008. She testified that sheriff’s investigators were more experienced in jail culture and security, more equipped to handle the investigation. She testified she was merely editing the document.

And the Orange County Sheriffs Saga continues

Friday, April 18, 2008 from the Orange County Register

‘Code of silence’ among deputies, top brass hid wrongdoing

30 years of secrecy at the sheriff’s office led to problems revealed in grand jury probe.

Former Sheriff Mike Carona was unmistakable in his tone and unmovable in his message to prosecutors attempting to take over the investigation of a slain inmate: “If I don’t want you in my jails, you’re not coming in my jails.”

Carona’s admonishment, eight days after the Oct. 5, 2006, death of John Derek Chamberlain, was revealed in grand jury documents released this month. It showed the arrogance that kept a wall of secrecy firmly in place around the department – a wall that eventually crumbled under its own weight.

Testimony released last week showed deputies asleep at their posts, relying on jailhouse bullies to police other inmates, often by force. Top brass gave misleading testimony, altered documents and stalled the grand jury to make good on Carona’s promise to keep away outsiders. And deputies downright lied, repeatedly, to the grand jury, comparing notes with other witnesses and then denying it.

“It seems like there’s no boundaries,” said Patrick McManimon, a corrections expert involved in a 2001 federal case against the Orange County Jail. “Where ever your moral compass takes you, you go.”

Corrections and law enforcement experts say the deception and secrecy were supported by a mix of arrogance, loyalty and a “code of silence.” They lay part of the blame on Orange County’s pro-law enforcement attitude and its tendency to believe police over virtually everybody else.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is more on the story of Jason, an Orange County man who was beaten to death by sheriffs in the OC jail. Sheriffs have denied the charge but today the family presented evidence that he was killed by blunt trauma to the head. The orange county sheriffs department has already been taking heat all last year over the Mike Carona and the OC sheriffs corruption investigations under OC Sheriff Michael Carona.

Lawyer: O.C. Inmate Died From Blows To His Head

SANTA ANA, Calif. An inmate who died April 1 after a jailhouse struggle with Orange County sheriff’s deputies was killed by traumatic blows to his head, an attorney for the man’s father said in remarks reported Wednesday.

Sheriff’s officials had previously said that deputies used a stun gun on Jason Jesus Gomez, 35, at the Intake Release Center in Santa Ana, but gave no indication that Gomez sustained head wounds.

Read the rest

Sheriff Carona Is Up To His Old Tricks

An April 2006 study by Virginia Tech and the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration found that “almost 80 percent of crashes” involve driver inattention to the road “within three seconds” of an accident. The study blamed cell phone use as the most common form of driver distraction. It also noted that other activities—like reaching for a cup or talking to passengers—are statistically more dangerous.

But the federal report didn’t examine cases where a driver uses a cell phone while engaged in sex or smooching. Not to worry. For these dangers we can turn to Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, the self-proclaimed conservative Christian politician and accused serial adulterer who is seeking re-election on June 6.

Evidence obtained by the Weekly places Carona inside a moving vehicle while, well, affectionately engaged with a then-low ranking sheriff’s department employee. The pair kissed, giggled, moaned, groaned, cleaned up and offered expressions of love. After the 45-minute romp, the female said to Carona, “Do I still smell like you?”

The sheriff said, “A lot! A lot! A lot! A lot! A lot! A lot!”

“How do we hide it?” she replied.

Through a private attorney, the sheriff declined interview requests, demanded a copy of the recording, and implied he might claim it’s been doctored. However, the woman confirmed details of the encounter. She asked that her name not be used in this article for fear of retaliation.

But it’s not just her word. Neither Carona nor the woman knew at the time that their physical activities in the vehicle had inadvertently activated the redial button on a cell phone. And this is where Carona’s already stunning gift for creating scandal becomes legendary. An audio recording of the affair was left on an unwitting person’s telephone answering machine.

This time, the sheriff—a man predisposed to blame his foibles on underlings, friends, acquaintances and the media—had fingered himself, so to speak.

* * *

Powerful politicians often lead double lives, the public versions contrary to reality. In Carona’s case, the gap appears staggering. He portrays himself as a simple man committed to his faith, his family and his duty. But if Carona has proven anything in his seven years in power, it’s that he’s a scandal magnet. Among other well-documented missteps, Carona has:

•partied and accepted contributions from a colorful Las Vegas mafia associate and strip club owner

•given official badges and guns to large campaign contributors, some of them emotionally unstable

•accepted tens of thousands of dollars in illegal contributions, once taking $49,000 from a man with a 30-year crime record

•allowed Joseph Medawar, a con man with ties to Saudi Arabia and now a convicted felon, to film a top-secret anti-terrorist training exercise

•offered free inmate labor to a political campaign contributor

•watched the grand jury indict several close friends on corruption charges

•sent birthday cards to his best friend’s wife—cards in which he referenced “butt floss” and his now notorious penis, which he calls “The Little Sheriff.”

* * *

Last year, as he planned to renege on his pledge to run for no more than two terms, Carona huddled with his PR advisers. He wanted a strategy to downplay the persistent infidelity rumors. The team decided to blame George Jaramillo, the sheriff’s longtime No. 2, who is currently facing bribery charges based on his relationship with a felon he met through Carona. Publicly, they said Jaramillo was determined to spread lies about the sheriff. As for the women who alleged the sheriff had approached them for sex, they were portrayed as nuts.

But the sex stories—all of them told reluctantly, some of them by women compelled to testify under oath before the grand jury—kept coming (so to speak): Carona’s unwelcome phone calls to another man’s wife in hopes of luring her to San Francisco for a weekend sex romp; his persistent interest in a pornographic photo album of females (including county employees) inside the sheriff’s executive suite; using an official helicopter to taxi a mistress and promises of employment consideration in exchange for sex.

Articles were published, even in the conservative Orange County Register. TV and radio reporters at LA-based stations got interested. And Carona—perhaps America’s smoothest-talking sheriff—went to Plan B. He granted interviews only to trusted reporters and wore his now perfected who-me face. Then he invited reporters and the California attorney general’s office to investigate.

His gamble wasn’t entirely insane: many reporters are spineless, lazy and awed by power. The attorney general’s office is understaffed, overworked and often loath to act on explosive, politically sensitive revelations—like the one that our balding, 51-year-old sheriff might be a slut. Satisfied by his own careful calculations, Carona claimed he welcomed their probes. So to speak.

A few months later, however, the Weekly found evidence of the sheriff’s insincerity. In a phone message, he confided to defense lawyer Joseph G. Cavallo, his drinking buddy of 26 years, that he would retaliate against anyone who stepped forward with additional claims. It’s no idle threat, coming as it does from a man with high-level police powers, an annual budget of $580 million, high-tech surveillance and bugging equipment and thousands of employees ready to follow orders. Carona is also a senior Homeland Security advisor to President George W. Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The threat frightened several of the women who’d complained; it helped keep other women publicly silent. But the intimidation tactics failed on the one person who could easily unravel the sheriff’s duplicity: Jaramillo, Carona’s longtime confidant who was fired in March 2004. The two men, who once called each other “brother for life,” have become bitter enemies.

It was Jaramillo’s voice mail that Carona inadvertently redialed during his May 2001 encounter with the woman in the vehicle. That record was preserved and is now in the hands of the Weekly and the state attorney general’s office. The lengthy audio recording sounds like a scene in a 1970s porn flick. Read it, and as you do, supply your own funky bass line:

It’s dark out, and Orange County’s sheriff is giddy inside a white Honda SUV. He gives his female companion a breath mint, then leans over and kisses her. When he’s done, Carona says, “You’re so fucking cute.”

There are sounds of renewed physical contact. Moments earlier, it was the lawman who moaned and groaned. Now it’s the woman who is expressing pleasure. She says nothing but giggles over and over. Carona whispers something inaudible. The woman giggles again.

She later recalls that the sheriff had been fondling her.

Unaware, Carona’s wife and young son stand 50 feet away. Before exiting the SUV to join his family and attend an official function, the sheriff savors the moment with a sigh. He asks if there’s lipstick smeared on his face; emboldened, he says he has half a mind not to wipe off the lipstick.

And then he tells his employee, “I mean, I gotta tell you, I . . . love . . . you!”

Can a get a taxpayer paid 60 day vacation if I get arrested?

I think not, but this fool sure can. What is wrong with this picture? Apparently, he will not resign and needs the 60 days of paid leave to deal with the charges against him…

So 1 more time! what ordinary citizen in the US would ever qualify to take a 2 month vacation payed by taxpayers because they really f’d up by getting caught?

Innocent till proven guilty? well we see the Sheriffs play that out on the news all the time.

“The sheriff and his defenders insist that Mr. Carona deserves his day in court, should be considered innocent until proven guilty and should not be “tried” in the media. ”

That is why Carona needs the 2 months… he is innocent and will remain so until it is poven otherwise. We all know the Sheriffs department upholds that.

Yep, we see them treat everyone they arrest with the dignity and respect given to an innocent man. Pulling people over and searching them on a hunch, being searched and detained for being the wrong skin color, beating that “innocent till proven guilty” man for resisting arrest, or sometimes, just shooting them for non-compliance.

Yep, they treat the “innocent till proven guilty” well and every suspect should get paid for being put through this type of thing.

Editorial: Carona’s leave should be permanent

An Orange County Register editorial

Sheriff Mike Carona, stung by a federal indictment detailing seven charges of corruption, announced last week that he would take a 60-day, taxpayer-funded leave of absence so that he could battle the charges against him. As is typical with this scandal-plagued sheriff, he has put his needs before those of the public. The apparent goal of this move is to take the sheriff’s travails off the front pages and hope that the issue blows over so that he can save his job. While the leave certainly calms the growing storm of resignation demands, from voices as disparate as Supervisor John Moorlach to the deputies’ union, we don’t think a temporary respite is the right call.

The sheriff and his defenders insist that Mr. Carona deserves his day in court, should be considered innocent until proven guilty and should not be “tried” in the media. That certainly is true when it comes to the specific criminal charges filed against Mr. Carona. But there is a broader public policy concern. Supervisor Janet Nguyen captured the point in her recent statement: “Sheriff Carona’s alleged offenses do, in my judgment, constitute an abuse and violation of public trust. While Mr. Carona the person is entitled to the presumption of innocence in the court of law, Sheriff Carona as an officeholder and as the top law enforcement officer in the county has no similar presumption with regards to his fitness to continue to hold office in that capacity.”

There are two issues: legal guilt or innocence, and fitness to continue in the job as the county’s top law enforcement official. The first part is an open question and will be resolved in the courts, but the second part is different. Even if Mr. Carona’s behavior is not illegal, the circumstance of the county’s top cop facing federal indictment and prosecution makes him unfit to continue as Orange County’s sheriff.

If the allegations are true, they reflect terribly poor judgment. One reader sent us a copy of a peace officer “code of ethics.” It includes these statements: “I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. … I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions.”

Such a code should apply even more to the county’s top cop, who – as an elected official with enormous power and a holder of the public trust – should be beyond reproach.

The indictment accuses Mike Carona of engaging in a conspiracy with his top aides to use the office to enrich themselves and of witness tampering. But the charges come after a long history of scandal in the department, ranging from his associations with a suspected mobster to sexual allegations to engaging in political retaliation against opponents within the Sheriff’s Department.

Enough is enough. If Mr. Carona refuses to do the honorable thing and resign, the voters should get going on a recall election.

The following was posted as a comment on another one of our sites, I hope he does not mind me putting this up.

I’ve always said that the ‘top cops’ must be held even more accountable, than the boots in the street. As our Highest authority says, “To whom much is given, greater is required.”

What could have led to his demise?
I suspect Carona being elected too quickly to the top cop, of the 2nd largest Sheriffs Department in California was problematic. To my knowledge he may have never been a deputy Sheriff. But he is elected to thee Sheriff.

That is tantamount to what occurs to some of these young movie stars or celebrities. One day their an average person, then their at the top. They missed out on the years of preparation, discipline and grooming for their new fame. Consequently, then they can’t handle it.

Carona gained his National recognition years back when 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was murdered. I have to admit Carona looked rock solid, and spoke very well behind the podium; as he announced to the world that Samantha’s killer Alejandro Avila was arrested. Carona received great credit and admiration (Nationally) for that arrest. But the truth is, Carona was not the hero who located and arrested Avila. After this arrest Carona became a world-renowned hero. But is this fair? Is this correct?

It is tantamount to the former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. After New York’s attack on 9-1-1, Giuliani stepped up to the plate (the podium,) and made press releases to the world. Just like Carona, Giuliani looked good, he sounded good, and he said everything we all needed to hear. But does that make him a great leader, or the hero? Does that now make Giuliani qualified to become the next President of the United States of America? Of course not.

Conclusion
The United States Attorneys office sustains a 98% conviction rate. If Carona is innocent, I surely hope he is found ‘not guilty.’ But if he is in fact guilty as charged, then he should be found ‘guilty’ as charged.

Had one of Carona’s deputies been accused of the same, Carona would have suspended and/or terminated that Deputy. Therefore, I say it’s time for Carona to step down. Not just because of these criminal allegations, but because other alleged indiscretions.

Ok, come see for your self! Read these Federal Indictments, and comment back here. I’m betting this man never spends a day in Jail, or pays a penny of the Millions he’s bilked the taxpayers back. This ladies and gentalmen is what your “Local Law Enforcement” is up to. And then they have the ball’s to call your house at dinner time and ask for you to make a donation. We’ll give you a sticker for your vehicle for donating they tell you. Hmmm, does this sticker get you the same “Get out of Jail” free status that Sheriff Carona gives to his buddies for $1000 a month. Get used to it people, if you’re going to hang with Corruption.JustSickShit.com these are the articles you’re going to come accross. No one else wants to talk about it! WE DO!!!

These three links are to the .PDF file Indictments that the Government has handed down. Feel free to download them (right click, save as) and read them at your leisure.

Sheriff Carona’s Indictment (PDF)

Sheriff Haidl’s Plea Agreement (PDF)

Sheriff Jaramillo’s Plea Agreement (PDF)

This is a history of Mike S Carona, the Orange County Sheriff of the past 5 years. We are absolutely appalled by the things this man has done, and yet he is still THE SHERIFF of ORANGE COUNTY!

Mike Carona and Rick Rizzolo (FBI noted Mob Boss)

Pictures speak volumes, and they can raise questions—like what the hell was Sheriff Mike Carona thinking when he posed for a photo with Rick Rizzolo, a man the FBI calls a mob associate?

That’s Rizzolo—shirt untucked, gold bracelet and pinky ring, cocktail, smile—with his arm draped around Orange County’s top cop. Rizzolo is a wealthy man, a Las Vegas strip club owner with unusual access to Nevada politicians, Hollywood celebrities, and colorful criminals who’ve been featured in mob books and movies. Even by that standard, his time with Carona, who hails himself as “America’s sheriff,” must have seemed surreal. It’s not often, if ever, that a big-shot California cop will openly party with a well-known underworld figure.

Organized-crime agents say the two men posed for the shot at Newport Beach’s posh Ritz restaurant sometime between 2002 and 2004. They declined to be more specific about the date. But they will say the two men drank, chatted and shared laughs at the Ritz, exchanged warm embraces, and, as absurd as it seems, posed for photographs, including this one obtained by the Weekly, providing a record of the odd meeting.

Investigators have tied Rizzolo to Chicago and New York mob families. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that he’s the target of an ongoing corruption probe. A federal indictment describes his topless joint as a “racketeering enterprise.” The club’s general manager, Albert Rapuano, can’t get a gaming license because of his own mob ties. Rizzolo has employed as bouncers the sons and brothers of high-ranking Mafia bosses. He cracked a man’s skull with a baseball bat to resolve a 1985 dispute. In 1999, FBI surveillance caught him in Chicago discussing gambling and construction interests with notorious hit man Joey “The Clown” Lombardo as well as John “No Nose” DiFronzo, Joe “The Builder” Andriacchi, Rudy Fratto and William Messino, a convicted felon and loan shark.

You might expect that Carona, who has his own organized-crime unit and is seeking re-election in June despite a series of corruption scandals, would stay far from trouble. He heads California’s second-largest sheriff’s department, once served as the chairman of a state crime commission and has the ear of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s a senior adviser on national security issues to President George W. Bush.

Last spring, Rizzolo—who owns a 3,700-square-foot oceanfront estate in Newport Beach—attended Carona’s 50th birthday party and was among the first to contribute to the sheriff’s re-election campaign. When The Orange County Register’s Tony Saavedra disclosed in November 2005 that the sheriff had accepted Rizzolo’s $1,500, Carona’s media consultants acknowledged that the men had met “two or three times.” Two weeks ago, they told the Weekly that there might have been meetings but insisted that the sheriff was clueless about Rizzolo’s occupation and mob ties.

If that assertion raised eyebrows in Carona’s own department, it enraged anti-mob cops.

“It’s disgusting,” one high-level officer said of the Rizzolo-Carona relationship. “It’s a slap in the face to law enforcement. What is Sheriff Carona thinking? He’s either incredibly stupid or dirty as hell. Or both.”

Mike Carona, Freddie Glusman, and Gary Primm

Carona’s job comes with a $550 million annual budget, 1,800 deputies and access to secret organized-crime databases. If he’s really unaware of the activities of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) in Orange County, state investigators aren’t. According to a 2003 report, LCN and its associates are responsible for a “broad spectrum” of crimes in Southern California: murder, drug trafficking, gambling, labor racketeering, extortion, infiltration of legitimate businesses, loan sharking, pornography, prostitution, tax fraud and financial market manipulations. The report notes that this region “has always been an attractive location for traditional organized crime families” because of its proximity to Las Vegas. It also claims LA, San Diego and Orange counties are “open” territories where no single mafia family dominates.

Organized-crime cops here won’t publicly discuss Rizzolo’s activities, and Sheriff Carona did not respond to questions. But numerous sources in and outside the sheriff’s department say the men were introduced by Freddie Glusman, owner of the Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach since May 2002. Glusman, a Carona campaign contributor, also owns upscale Piero’s Italian Restaurant in Las Vegas.

Glusman doesn’t hide the fact that Piero’s is a mob hangout. In advertising, Glusman brags that his patrons include “businessmen in the casino industry with Italian surnames” or “local color guys.” He boasts that these men like his restaurant for “confidential encounters.” Years ago, he installed a private wine cabinet for Rizzolo. Joey Cusumano—a former Laguna Beach resident, Rizzolo pal and alleged mob associate who is banned for life from the Nevada gaming industry—is also a regular at Piero’s, according to published reports in Las Vegas.

“No one gets bothered in my restaurant,” Glusman says in an ad. “I don’t care who the celebrity is or what they have done. I see to it that they are allowed to dine in peace and quiet. No exceptions!” But last year, even Glusman couldn’t deliver on the promise: the FBI arrested two retired New York City police officers, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, while dining at Piero’s. Earlier this month, a federal jury convicted the ex-cops of secretly moonlighting for East Coast organized-crime outfits for more than a decade while carrying badges. Eppolito and Caracappa were involved in at least 11 attempted or successful mob-ordered hits, according to federal prosecutors.

Of course, Glusman isn’t responsible for the actions of his patrons. But you might expect that his friendship with Rizzolo and other mob associates would disqualify him from membership in any law-enforcement agency in the U.S. Thanks to Carona, you’d be wrong. Sometime between 2002 and 2004 (the sheriff’s department refuses to say when), Carona gave Glusman and Nevada casino owner Gary Primm (another campaign contributor) official Orange County sheriff’s badges and swore them in as reserve deputies. The ceremony didn’t take place in public or in the sober offices of the sheriff’s Santa Ana headquarters: it happened inside the Ritz, just a few feet from the bar. Along with the badges, Carona, dressed in full uniform, brought taxpayer-funded presents: engraved bottles of wine and a cake (white icing and strawberries) with the inscription, “Congratulations Sheriff Glusman and Sheriff Primm.”

Sheriff’s department officials, including Carona, claim everyone who receives a badge has been cleared by a thorough background check. But law-enforcement sources say the sheriff gave Glusman and Primm badges before real deputies were allowed to vet them.

(Carona did not respond to the Weekly’s request to publicly release the dates of the Glusman/Primm swearing-in ceremony and the completion of the background checks.)

It didn’t take long for Glusman to abuse his power. In July, a Newport Beach shop owner refused to let Glusman use a private parking space. Glusman cursed and flashed his sheriff’s badge. “How do you like that?” he yelled. The shop owner, a former cop, wasn’t impressed. He reported the incident to police. Glusman resigned in October before internal-affairs agents could finish their investigation.

Carona, Glusman, and Primm at the Ritz bar

Carona, who reneged last April on his pledge to relinquish control of the sheriff’s department after two terms, has presided over an ethical mess. Several women have filed sexual harassment complaints against him. The attorney general’s office is investigating the sheriff’s questionable use of $130,000 in campaign funds. George Jaramillo, his longtime No. 1 deputy, faces bribery charges. Attorney Joe Cavallo, his longtime drinking buddy, was arrested for an alleged bail bonds scheme at the Orange County jail. Liquor-store owner Jack Henshaw, a major Carona donor whose identity was concealed for years, was fined $200,000 for attempting to bribe a federal court official. Raymond Yi, his personal martial arts instructor, allegedly flashed a sheriff’s badge and pointed a gun at fellow golfers. POST, a state police licensing agency, refused to recognize 87 individuals Carona had deputized without thorough background checks or training requirements. Don Haidl, a wealthy businessman who won appointment as assistant sheriff after raising the most money for Carona’s first campaign, paid the state attorney general’s office $104,000 to end a whistleblower action alleging fraudulant business deals. Charles Gabbard, the largest individual contributor to Carona’s 2002 re-election campaign, is a convicted felon (murder, robbery, burglary) seeking police agency contracts; last year, the Weekly disclosed that Carona had promised Gabbard the free use of inmate labor at the same time Gabbard was funneling $29,000 in illegal contributions to the sheriff’s campaign.

It’s a record that’s in stark contrast to promises Carona made in his first months in office seven years ago.

“No one is ever going to get close enough to me to compromise me,” the sheriff said. “It just won’t happen.”

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Corona Federally Indicted for fraud, and cover ups! Orange County’s sheriff joined with a wealthy businessman and others, including his wife and mistress, in using his office to enrich themselves by accepting some $350,000 in illicit gifts, loans and other compensation, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Neither Sheriff Mike Carona nor his attorney, H. Dean Steward, could be reached for immediate comment on the 10-count federal complaint.

The court papers allege that Carona was boosted into office with the help of businessman Don Haidl, who, among other things, made regular $1,000 monthly payments in exchange for full access to the resources of the sheriff’s department and a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Haidl helped Carona get elected and was appointed in January 1999 to the position of assistant sheriff — despite a lack of qualifications — as payback, the government alleges.

For more, on Sheriff Michael S Corona click here to link to the CBS2.com article!