Ex-Registrar in San Diego County Indicted

Former San Diego County Registrar Ray J. Ortiz has been indicted on four counts of grand theft, seven counts of misappropriating public funds and 16 other charges in connection with false bills allegedly submitted to the county through a Los Angeles company that once printed the county’s sample election ballots.

Also named in the indictment unsealed Thursday were Maria Caldera, a longtime friend of Ortiz who was charged with three counts of grand theft, and Lance Gough, an elections consultant charged with a single grand theft count.

All the charges involve felonies.

The indictment was returned by the county grand jury Wednesday and unsealed Thursday after the arrest of Caldera, who was released Thursday from county jail on $10,000 bail.

Arrest warrants were also issued for Ortiz, 52, who was reported en route to San Diego from Pennsylvania, and Gough, whose whereabouts were unknown.

Ortiz, who resigned Sept. 1 after seven years as registrar, is the third San Diego public official to be indicted in the last 26 months. Then-Mayor Roger Hedgecock was convicted in 1985 of conspiring to funnel thousands of dollars into his 1983 mayoral campaign, and Councilman Uvaldo Martinez pleaded guilty earlier this year to misusing a city credit card.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Douglas C. Gregg said Thursday that the investigation into the matter was complete. He said he did not anticipate any additional charges being filed against Ortiz, Caldera or Gough or against any other individuals or firms who figured in the investigation.

The 27 counts center on six transactions between May, 1984, and July, 1986. The transactions involve an alleged loss to the county of $7,373 and a $4,000 loss to Jeffries Banknote Co. of Los Angeles, the printing firm.