The Region - News from March 5, 1985

A former Los Angeles County welfare administrator who admitted that he allowed three subordinates to collect sick pay from the county after they left county employment was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and placed on five years’ probation. Larry Novak, 45, of Palmdale, a 22-year veteran of the Department of Public Social Services, had pleaded guilty to a grand theft charge last month. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Henry P. Nelson also ordered Novak to reimburse the county for the $7,300 in bogus sick pay given to the three former employees. Novak, who has resigned, was the welfare administrator in the Department of Public Social Services’ Lancaster office. Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence J. Mira said authorities do not believe that Novak received any money for arranging the improper sick pay. Mira said he does not know what Novak’s motive was.