VENTURA : Ex-Manager Sentenced in Theft of Equipment

A former manager in the Ventura County Public Social Services Agency was sentenced Friday to 120 days in jail for stealing more than $15,000 worth of computer equipment from his office.

David M. Woody, 29, of Camarillo also was placed on three years’ probation by Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch.

Woody, manager of computer services for the social services agency until he was fired earlier this year, pleaded guilty in March to one count of embezzlement in connection with the thefts.

Agency Director James E. Isom said his office received a tip in February that Woody had been stealing equipment. A truckload of printers, monitors, computer hard drives, memory chips and other equipment was recovered at his home and other locations after a three-week investigation, Isom said.

Defense attorney James M. Farley said after the sentencing that Woody was allowed to take county computers home so he could work on them on his own time and keep the system operating.

Farley described Woody as “very disorganized” and said that over time, his client got confused about what belonged to him and what was county property. Woody panicked when he found out he was under investigation and “he did a very stupid thing and took some serial numbers off” the county equipment, Farley said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert D. Meyers asked Storch to impose a six-month jail term, which was the sentence recommended by the county probation department. Farley said he believed 30 days would have been more appropriate because Woody returned all the county equipment.

“He did everything he could to make it right,” the defense attorney said. “He ‘fessed up. He gave everything back.”