Ex-County Employee in Bribery Case Enters Plea : Courts: Former assessor’s office worker from Oxnard pleads not guilty to taking bribes in exchange for wiping tax debts off books.

A former worker in the Ventura County assessor’s office pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that she took bribes from people who were behind in their tax payments.

Jacque Sue Martinez, 29, of Oxnard is scheduled for an April 10 court conference to determine whether the case can be resolved.

Defense attorney Jorge Alvarado said Martinez, during interviews with her former employers and police, confessed to taking bribes and “at this point there doesn’t appear to be any legal issues to pursue.”

“She’s very worried about the past as well as the future, and we’re trying to find out the best way to resolve this, for herself and for the county,” Alvarado said.

Martinez, who was employed in the assessor’s office for 11 years, is charged with two counts each of soliciting bribes and accepting bribes in exchange for clearing tax debts off county books.

She was arrested in January after investigators were told of an alleged Jan. 18 incident involving $450. Since then, another individual has come forward to say he paid Martinez $1,100 to clear his $3,000 tax debt on a boat, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rebecca Riley said.

Martinez, who has resigned from her county job, worked in the assessor’s department that is responsible for identifying overdue taxes on boats and planes. Prosecutors said they were contacted in January by a plane owner who said Martinez offered to wipe his tax debt off the county books in exchange for $450.

The owner of the plane owed nearly $1,000 in taxes, authorities said.

A district attorney’s spokesman said authorities monitored a meeting between Martinez and the plane owner. She collected the agreed-upon payment, returned to work and doctored records to reflect that the owner’s tax liability had been satisfied, the spokesman said.

Investigators, who then checked Martinez’s bank records, concluded that she deposited the payment in her personal account, authorities said.

After her arrest was publicized, another taxpayer told authorities that he paid a $1,100 bribe between Oct. 8 and Dec. 1, Riley said. She said no criminal charges are anticipated against that taxpayer.

At the time of the incidents, Alvarado said, Martinez was nearly $18,000 in debt and had considered filing for bankruptcy. He said Martinez tried to cash in her county retirement fund to deal with her debts, but was unable to do so.

She is now unemployed, Alvarado said.

Riley said the charges against Martinez carry a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, though probation is also a possibility. The prosecutor said her office will not offer Martinez a deal in exchange for a guilty plea.