The State : Warrant Issued for Mayor

A bench warrant was issued for Stockton Mayor Randall Ronk after he failed to appear in Jackson Justice Court in a deer-poaching case because he was on trial in Stockton. Ronk is on trial in San Joaquin County Superior Court on 10 felony counts of defrauding the city on false travel claims. Neither Ronk nor his attorney showed up in the Amador County court for a second appearance in the poaching case. Ronk and his father, Harold, were accused of hunting deer illegally at a state game refuge near Bear River Reservoir last Nov. 21. The elder Ronk admitted the charges and paid an $85 fine, but his son sought a trial. In the Stockton trial, attorneys argued in the judge’s chambers whether Ronk should be required to identify an informant. Ronk testified that he paid some of the disputed travel claim funds to the unidentified informant in a personal investigation of Stockton City Councilman Ralph Lee White.