Reputed Mob Figure Held in Drug Shakedown Case

Robert (Fat Bobby) Paduano, a reputed organized crime figure from Newport Beach, was indicted Friday on charges of using robbery, burglary, assault and extortion to shake down suspected drug dealers and force them into buying cocaine from his own criminal enterprise.

Paduano, 45, was named by the Orange County Grand Jury in a 73-count indictment along with co-defendant John Matua, a 22-year-old Westminster man serving 14 years at Folsom Prison for robbery, assault and false imprisonment.

Each was charged with conspiracy, robbery, assault, false imprisonment, assault with a firearm, extortion and sale or distribution of narcotics.

Paduano was arrested Thursday night and remained jailed Friday in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Previous Convictions

Paduano owns a financial consulting firm based in Tustin. He was named as one of seven members of organized crime from Orange County in a 1978 report by the state Organized Crime Control Commission. He has previously been convicted of arson and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and has served time in prison.

Prosecutors alleged that between January, 1986, and October, 1987, Paduano and Matua conspired to rob certain people they believed were drug dealers and eventually used threats and intimidation to force these people into buying cocaine from Paduano and giving him a cut of the profits from its sale.

The victims lived in Newport Beach, Fountain Valley and the Palm Springs area, according to the indictment.

Paduano was not accused of actually participating in the robberies but rather of conspiring to commit them. Paduano, the indictment said, met with Matua to target their victims and then paid Matua to actually pull off the robberies.

‘Very Generous . . . Kind’

Alan May, Paduano’s attorney, said the indictment “was not unexpected. They have been trying to indict him for over a year now.”

May suggested that his client, whom he described as “a very generous man, a kind man,” may have been framed by people with their own legal problems who were trying to cut a deal for leniency with the prosecutor’s office.

May denied charges that Paduano had ties to organized crime, calling it a convenient scapegoat to conceal other, more major problems facing Orange County law enforcement officials.