Dixon Offers to Repay Part of Missing Money

NEWPORT BEACH — Robert Dixon, the former utilities director accused of embezzling $1.8 million from the city of Newport Beach, has agreed to liquidate his assets to repay a significant portion of the money he is accused of stealing.

Attorneys for the 47-year-old Dixon, who is in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond, also said Wednesday that they have assembled clinical records that show “very serious psychological problems” to explain his actions.

In an agreement to be filed in Orange County Superior Court this week, Dixon will agree to return $500,000 to $1 million to the city, according to his civil attorney, J. David Pittman.

At the same time, Dixon’s criminal attorney, Stephan A. DeSales, emphasized that Dixon is maintaining his plea of not guilty to the two counts of felony embezzlement with which he has been charged.

According to court documents, Dixon diverted municipal funds, in part by requesting that city checks for mineral rights and easements be made out to nonexistent property owners. Dixon had the checks sent to the Utilities Department, saying that he would deliver them himself.

Dixon will also assume personal responsibility for much of the remaining debt, Pittman said, although it is uncertain how much of that will ever be repaid. Dixon’s assets include a Huntington Beach condominium, his city retirement fund, property in Arizona, art, personal bank accounts, stocks and bonds, Pittman said.

Dixon is scheduled to appear in Harbor Municipal court Friday for a pretrial hearing. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for March 5.

DeSales said that in preparing Dixon’s defense he has received psychiatric data on his client, including treatment records and evaluations dating back 20 years.

“No one is saying he’s insane,” DeSales said, but there is evidence of “very serious psychological problems . . . that will go a long way in explaining what occurred” while Dixon was employed by the city.