SAN GABRIEL VALLEY : Ex-Deputy Gets 4-Year Term in Credit Card Scam

A former sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for his role in a scam in which he stopped motorists, mostly elderly men, and stole their credit cards, racking up thousands of dollars in charges for electronics and sports equipment.

Judge Lance Ito sentenced former Deputy Steven Switzer, 31, who pleaded guilty in December to 10 counts of theft. Ito denied probation for Switzer because there were multiple victims, but acknowledged that the deputy had no previous criminal record and had expressed remorse for his actions. Ito ordered Switzer to surrender to authorities June 8.

Switzer and other deputies stole motorists’ credit cards and used them to make fraudulent purchases worth more than $75,000, including expensive electronic gear, liquor, Marine Corps good conduct medals and even a Bible. Psychiatrist L. James Grold testified that Switzer suffered from a head injury that impaired his sense of right and wrong when he stopped motorists in the Temple City area last year and ordered them to get out of their cars and leave their wallets on the front seats.