Roth Arranges Golf Event as Public Service : Probation: Former supervisor’s 200 hours of court-ordered community work are being spent organizing a benefit tournament for the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim.

When former Supervisor Don R. Roth pleaded guilty last month to political ethics-law violations, lawyers stressed that he would satisfy his 200 hours of court-ordered community service by lugging boxes and helping the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim move into a new home.

Well, not quite.

Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Michael J. Sofia said Monday that Roth is spending all of his time there helping to organize a golf tournament as a fund-raiser for the club and finding corporate sponsors.

Ironically, it was Roth’s acceptance of free golf outings that led in part to two of his guilty pleas last month, and questions were also raised about his unorthodox use of political campaign funds to buy himself a trip to Atlanta during an auction at his own celebrity golf tournament.

Roth logged his first 30 hours on the club’s golf project last week, and Sofia said he expects him to finish his 200-hour commitment well before the club begins its relocation in June or July.

“He’s just pouring his heart and his soul into (the project),” said Sofia, a longtime friend to Roth.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade, who oversaw the 11-month influence-peddling probe that led to Roth’s conviction, said he was “surprised” to learn Monday how Roth has been spending his time at the youth club.

“That’s definitely not what we had in mind” in striking a plea agreement with Roth in the case, Wade said. “In my opinion, this does very little to assure the public that Mr. Roth entered into the plea in good faith.”

“Our understanding of what was proposed and what we felt was appropriate was that he would help in physically moving things (at the youth club) . . . putting things in boxes and that type of thing,” Wade said.

Roth’s lawyers also emphasized the club’s relocation at the time of the plea, saying in a statement that they “can use all the help they can get. (Roth) invites you to join him in rolling up his sleeves and helping out.”

Municipal Judge Richard W. Stanford Jr., who approved the plea in his Santa Ana courtroom on March 25, could not be reached for comment on the issue Monday. But Wade said that if Stanford finds that Roth has not met the terms of his sentence, he could revoke the former Anaheim mayor’s probation.

But Roth said through his criminal attorney, Paul S. Meyer, that he decided to begin work on the golf tournament because he “didn’t want to wait” for the relocation in the summer. He still plans to help in the move, Meyer said.

“If they need further help, he’ll be there,” Meyer said.

The lawyer said he expects that Roth may work 300 or 400 hours in all at the youth club. “There’s no cap on the amount of time he’s going to put in for them,” Meyer said, adding that “I really don’t see this as news.”

Once among Orange County’s most powerful politicians, the 71-year-old Roth pleaded guilty last month to seven criminal misdemeanors in violation of the state’s Political Reform Act. Roth admitted that he had failed to report home improvements, landscaping work, a housing loan, free golf outings and other gifts from three local businesses and the city of Anaheim, and that he then voted three times on matters affecting the donors despite a legal conflict.

As part of an agreement attacked by some critics as too lenient, Stanford ordered Roth to pay a $50,000 fine, much of which is expected to come from his political campaign fund. He was also banned from seeking elected office or serving as a lobbyist for four years, was put on three years’ probation and was given until October to complete the community service.

At the March 25 hearing, Stanford spent several minutes discussing the community service in some detail with the lawyers.

Everyone appeared in agreement that Roth would serve the hours “assisting in the (club) relocation--a physical sort of work,” as Deputy Dist. Atty. Guy R. Ormes told Stanford.

“That’s the nature of the community service intended,” Meyer said.

Stanford said he wanted to ensure that the community service would entail “actual physical work as required, as opposed to some consulting work.”

“Oh, right,” Meyer told him. Roth would be “on the premises” at the youth club to help with the work, he said.

But Sofia said that for the last week, Roth has spent six hours a day at the club’s small administrative office on the 700 block of South Harbor Boulevard--rather than at the actual club, which serves 500 children a year.

Working at a small wooden desk with a fax machine and an old lamp beside him, Roth has been spending much of his time on the telephone with local businesses, encouraging them to pay $800 and become corporate sponsors for the April 26 tournament at the Anaheim Hills Country Club, Sofia said. The youth club hopes to raise $15,000 for its biggest annual fund-raiser, he added.

Sofia declined to say which businesses Roth is contacting.

The former supervisor also has been taking care of many of the details for the event--from collecting players’ handicaps to setting up soda supplies, he said. “There’s an incredible amount of details to take care of,” he said.

Sofia said he has gotten several calls asking whether Roth, with his criminal conviction, should be working at a club providing services for young people. And he acknowledged that Roth’s work on the golf tournament may only raise more questions in the public eye. But he said he isn’t bothered.

“They can say very easily, ‘Well, what is he doing with a golf tournament?’ But he’s got to do his 200 hours somewhere. He’s always helped us before, so why not here?” Sofia said, noting that Roth helped get county funds for the club in the past. “He’s trying to pay his debt to society--if that’s what everyone wants to say he’s doing. So let him.”

Times staff writer Kevin Johnson contributed to this story