SIMI VALLEY : Elys Seek Attorneys Appointed by Court

Ventura County court auditors were appointed Thursday to decide whether James T. (Tom) and Ingrid Ely are poor enough to qualify for court-appointed lawyers to defend them against charges of conspiracy and embezzlement in Superior Court.

The Ventura Community College District trustee and his wife, of Simi Valley, applied Tuesday for the court-appointed attorneys, saying they no longer could afford private attorneys in their case. Ingrid Ely applied for a public defender and Tom Ely asked for a court-appointed lawyer from Conflict Defense Associates, a group that represents indigent defendants when the public defender cannot.

Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch appointed the Superior and Municipal Courts Collections Division to study the Elys’ finances and report to him by Wednesday, when the Elys are scheduled to be arraigned.

Normally, the public defender’s office would conduct the audit, but because it could not represent both Elys without a conflict and could not evaluate Ingrid Ely’s finances without having access to Tom Ely’s financial records, Asst. Public Defender Jean Farley asked the judge to reassign the case to the court collections division.

The Elys have been accused of padding their district expense reports with more than $15,000 in improper claims.

They have been arraigned in Municipal Court and held over for trial on two counts each of conspiracy to commit grand theft. In addition, Tom Ely is to be tried on eight counts of embezzlement and 19 counts of making fraudulent claims. Additionally, Ingrid Ely has been charged in a criminal complaint with one count of grand theft by embezzlement.