Woman Tied to Judge Is Held in Cocaine Case

A woman linked to the investigation of Municipal Judge Calvin P. Schmidt has been arrested on suspicion of selling a kilo of cocaine to an undercover police officer, the Costa Mesa Police Department said Tuesday.

Sgt. Tom Boylan said Terri Ann McMullen, 28, was arrested at her apartment on 16th Street in Newport Beach at 5:40 p.m. Monday. Boylan said narcotics officers also arrested two men who were in her apartment at the time, Pedro Diaz Chavez, 22, and Paul Padilla, 27, both of Anaheim.

All three were arrested on suspicion of selling cocaine and conspiracy to sell cocaine, Boylan said.

Boylan confirmed that McMullen is the woman whose controversial release from jail by Schmidt last year added to allegations that the judge showed a pattern of preferential treatment for certain defendants. Schmidt came under fire for ordering McMullen released from jail in March, 1988, and also last October after she had been arrested on drug charges.

McMullen is the stepdaughter of M. Robert Guggenheim, a Newport Beach philanthropist. Schmidt ordered her released on her own recognizance despite being advised by officers that she was a bad risk because of a history of failing to appear in court.

According to court documents, Schmidt justified his actions by saying that McMullen was a member of the Guggenheim family and that the “defendant’s parents were wealthy.”

Campaign-spending reports show that Guggenheim made a $500 contribution to Schmidt in 1985.

The California Commission on Judicial Performance announced last Dec. 10 that it had ordered a formal hearing on allegations of misconduct against the Newport Beach judge. The hearing is scheduled to be held in August.

Boylan said McMullen and her two associates were arrested after a weeklong undercover operation. He said an officer got a tip that McMullen was dealing in cocaine, and the officer began negotiating with her. He added:

“The undercover officer was negotiating to buy from 2 to 5 kilos of cocaine, at $15,000 a kilo. When a deal was made for 1 kilo, she was arrested at her apartment, along with the two men who were there. We think Chavez was the delivery boy.”

McMullen was taken to County Jail and bail was set at $100,000. Boylan said that Chavez and Padilla were in Costa Mesa Jail in lieu of $25,000 each. They are scheduled to be arraigned this morning.