Alleged Crime Figure Jailed on 77-Count Indictment

Reputed Newport Beach underworld figure Robert G. Paduano was booked into Orange County Jail on Thursday night on a 77-count grand jury indictment accusing him of robbery, burglary, extortion, sale of cocaine and criminal conspiracy, jail officials said.

His bail was set at $500,000, officials said.

Paduano, 44, was linked to organized crime in a 1978 report by the state attorney general’s office. According to that report, Paduano has a history of arrests for crimes including arson, loan sharking and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

The indictment handed down by the Orange County Grand Jury remained sealed late Thursday, but authorities said it would be be made public today after Paduano is arraigned in Superior Court in Santa Ana.

‘Vindictive,’ Lawyer Charges

Details of the allegations against Paduano were not available late Thursday, but his attorney, Anthony P. Brooklier, claimed that the case is “vindictive” and follows three previously unsuccessful attempts by state and federal prosecutors to convict his client.

“I understand that the witnesses against him were dredged from the depths of society,” Brooklier said. “The witnesses who testified to the grand jury probably were people who are already convicted of a crime or who have problems and are trying to improve their position with the D.A. I think they (prosecutors) should worry about the credibility of their witnesses.”

Brooklier said he was only superficially aware of the charges and could not discuss them in detail.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi said late Thursday that the case was the “result of a lengthy investigation by multiple agencies. Further details will be available following arraignment.”

Authorities said that several law-enforcement agencies, including the Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and Irvine police departments, participated in the case, along with the organized crime-grand jury bureau in Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks’ office.

In 1986, a federal grand jury acquitted Paduano and two co-defendants of all charges in a seven-count indictment involving an alleged scheme to defraud stockholders of General Enertech, a Montana firm. The defendants had been charged with illegally transferring stock worth more than $3 million by bribing an official of a stock registration and transfer firm and then selling the shares for about $144,000. About 11,000 shares were transferred to a Tustin firm then headed by Paduano.

Three other defendants were convicted in the case, which was prepared by the U.S. Justice Department’s Organized Crime Task Force.

In 1981, Paduano and a secretary were arrested on loan shark charges at Paduano’s Tico Financial Inc. Mafia figure Michael Rizzitello, who was sentenced to prison for racketeering in an unrelated case, was sitting in Paduano’s office at the time of Paduano’s arrest and claimed to be Paduano’s employee, Tustin police said.

According to Brooklier, Paduano was not convicted in the case.

However, the 1978 attorney general’s report on organized crime stated that Paduano was convicted of arson in 1973 and conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 1977. The report added that he was involved in receiving stolen property and credit card fraud.