Surgery May Again Delay Jail for Ely : Courts: A probation report says the ex-community college district trustee is expected to lose half of his face.

Convicted embezzler James T. (Tom) Ely, stricken with cancer that started in his right cheek, is expected to receive a fourth delay in his one-year jail sentence today because physicians must remove half of his face to stop the spreading cancer, a county prosecutor said Thursday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol J. Nelson said she and Ely’s attorney, James M. Farley, have agreed to postpone the beginning of the sentence for the former Ventura County Community College District trustee for at least another 90 days. The two attorneys anticipate that Judge Lawrence Storch will go along with their decision at the 3 p.m. hearing today in Superior Court.

Ely was convicted along with his wife, Ingrid, in June of bilking $15,000 in funds from the district by padding expense accounts.

In an operation sometime later this month, his surgeon expects to remove Ely’s right eye, right eye socket, the right half of his nose, right upper jaw, the right half of his upper lip and entire right cheek, according to a probation report filed Wednesday in court.

Dr. Thomas Calcaterra, the chief head and neck surgeon at UCLA Medical Center, told county probation officers that he did not believe that Ely would be well enough to begin serving his sentence for at least one year after the operation, according to the probation report.

Calcaterra, the operating physician, said Ely will receive reconstructive surgery and also may be forced to undergo more radiation therapy.

Ingrid Ely’s sentence, which includes 500 hours of community service, is also expected to be delayed Friday so that she can assist her husband, the attorneys said.

Farley said Tom Ely is very depressed over his prognosis, but he is resigned to the fact that he needs the radical surgery.

“When I talked to him yesterday he was very matter of fact that he needs the surgery,” Farley said. “He tried the (radiation) treatment and it didn’t work. After it’s all done, the poor guy will have to have it all reconstructed.”

Repeatedly in the past, Nelson has questioned the severity of Ely’s condition because she had difficulty obtaining his medical records. But on Thursday, she said Ely’s medical records have left no doubt that he is seriously ill.

“At least I’m getting some reliable information,” said Nelson, who subpoenaed the medical files. “We’ve been in the dark. I hope the surgery goes wonderfully for Mr. Ely. I’m sure it must be very frightening.”

But Nelson said she still plans to make sure that Ely serves his jail sentence once he has recovered from the procedure.

“It’s certainly going to be disfiguring,” Nelson said. But she said that does not excuse him from serving the jail time. “We’re talking about two separate issues,” she said.

Shortly after the Elys’ conviction in June, doctors found a cancerous tumor--called a squamous cell carcinoma--in Tom Ely’s cheek, prompting Storch to issue a series of decisions to postpone Ely’s jail term so that he could undergo treatment.

Although Ely underwent several months of radiation therapy to reduce the cancerous lump, it continued to grow, the probation report said.

Farley said he believes that the stress of the high-profile fraud and embezzlement case has taken a toll on Ely’s health. “He has been under a lot of pressure,” Farley said. “The wolves have been attacking the carcass for a long time.”

The Elys’ legal woes date back to April, 1990, when Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury announced that the couple were the target of an investigation into possible misappropriation of district funds.

Tom Ely was subsequently charged with 29 counts of fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy. And Ingrid Ely, who served as the president of the Moorpark College Alumni Assn., was charged with one count each of grand theft, conspiracy and embezzlement.

A jury convicted the couple of all charges after a five-week trial that detailed how the couple dined at ritzy restaurants, purchased expensive clothes and stayed at the best hotels at taxpayers’ expense.

The college board then stripped Ely of his trustee position representing the Simi Valley area. But he continues to receive district health benefits, at taxpayers’ expense, because he is vested in an extended health program. Ely urged fellow board members to approve the extended health benefits in 1989 as one of many perks for trustees.

In addition to jail time, Ely was also sentenced to pay $14,415 in restitution and to serve six years probation. Ingrid Ely was ordered to do the community service, pay about $2,500 restitution and remain on probation for five years.

The two are appealing the case.