COUNTYWIDE : Deputy D.A. Ormes Wins Federal Honor

Deputy Dist. Atty. Guy N. Ormes, who has made a career out of prosecuting major fraud cases, will receive an award from the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday honoring him for “outstanding performance as a Special Assistant United States Attorney.”

Ormes is one of two prosecutors nationwide who will receive the award from Lawrence S. McWhorter, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

Ormes, who heads the district attorney’s major fraud unit, has for the past five years been serving simultaneously as a special U.S. attorney. He held that position when, in separate trials, he successfully prosecuted real estate investor Gerald Ramos in a $21-million fraud case involving 21 financial institutions, and John Hayden, the former president of an insurance company that issued worthless mortgage-guarantee bonds.

The Hayden case has been ordered back for a new trial by the appellate courts. However, U.S. Atty. Lourdes G. Baird of Los Angeles praised Ormes’ work on that case and nominated him for the national award.

“Mr. Ormes is the consummate team player . . . with unparalleled perseverance and skill in pursuing a case,” Baird wrote in Ormes’ nomination papers.

Ormes’ Orange County boss, Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, said he was overjoyed by the news of his deputy’s award.

“(When) something like this happens, it gives a lift to the whole office,” Capizzi said. “We couldn’t be happier for him, and for us.”