Lawyer Criticizes Public Arrest

The attorney for Ventura County Community College District Trustee James (Tom) Ely criticized county prosecutors on Wednesday for breaking what he said was a promise to call ahead and let Ely and his wife, Ingrid, surrender with dignity.

James M. Farley, a prominent Ventura defense attorney, accused Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury of ordering investigators to arrest and handcuff the Elys at their house on Tuesday “for his own political aggrandizement, to show everybody in the world that he bagged another public official.”

Farley said, “I had an agreement with the district attorney’s office . . . just to call me and they would appear.” He said of the arrest by Bradbury’s office, “I think he’s as unethical as hell for having done it.”

Bradbury and the Elys could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol J. Nelson, the lead prosecutor on the case, said she never promised to let the Elys surrender on request.

“Mr. Farley and I discussed it,” Nelson said. “But we made no commitment at that time. He--reasonably, I think--hoped that was the way it would happen, but people get arrested every day of the year, and they get arrested for crimes a lot less heinous than this, and if he expected Mr. Ely would get different treatment from the average citizen, he’s mistaken. . . . We don’t have a different procedure for community college trustees than we do for people who write bad checks.”

Investigators arrested the Elys on suspicion of bilking the college district of thousands of dollars in improper trip expenses. A criminal complaint filed Tuesday charges the couple with two counts each of conspiracy to commit grand theft, and Tom Ely with eight counts of embezzlement and 19 counts of making a false or fraudulent claim.

The Elys were released about midnight from the Ventura County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bond each, after posting 10% of that amount through a bail bondsman, Farley said. Arraignment is set for Aug. 28.

Nelson said the preliminary hearing in the Elys’ case will last a week or more “because there are an awful lot of small pieces of evidence. You’re talking a lot of little dinner receipts and everything else.”

Nelson spent 4 1/2 months investigating a series of junkets that Ely reportedly often charged to the district’s American Express Card--and for which Ingrid Ely allegedly sometimes received cash advances from Moorpark College President Stanley Bowers.

Court records show that the inquiry spanned state borders and international boundaries, tracing the Elys’ trips to and hotel bills from Sacramento; Louisville, Ky.; and Victoria, British Columbia.

“Thank God for fax machines,” Nelson said. “They saved, in this case, everybody a lot of time, a lot of money.”

She said the preliminary hearing will be less expensive and time-consuming than it might have been had the Elys been arrested before the June 5 passage of Proposition 115, the Crime Victims’ Justice Reform Act. That law will allow prosecutors to use testimony from investigators about the Elys’ travel receipts, “as opposed to having to spend the money to fly someone from Vancouver to testify about a $27 bill,” Nelson said.

Farley said Wednesday that he will represent Tom Ely during criminal proceedings, but to avoid a conflict of interest, Ingrid Ely will seek another attorney to defend herself.

If convicted, Tom Ely could be sentenced to up to six years in prison and his wife up to three years and eight months.