Youth Club’s Ex-Chief Pleads Guilty in Fraud

The former executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Placentia pleaded guilty Friday to swapping community service credits for donations to the club and was sentenced to 1,500 hours of community service himself.

The surprise plea by Albert P. Rizzo, 52, of Corona came after a morning of negotiations between defense attorneys and prosecutors. Municipal Judge Martin Hairabedian Jr. in Fullerton also sentenced Rizzo to three years’ probation.

“Our justice system works because all the players act accordingly, including the people who run community service programs,” said Mike Fell, the senior deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.

“The disappointing part of this case is that when one cog in the machine doesn’t work, it reflects badly on the entire system.”

Rizzo’s arrest after years as head of the center for disadvantaged youth shook the small city of Placentia. He had been charged with two counts of falsifying work sheets of people sent to the club to complete court-mandated community service hours.

The covert probe by undercover police officers posing as sentenced criminals was launched after an informant told a probation officer that hours could be bought at the club. Police eventually tallied 3,543 service hours they said had been swapped by Rizzo for donations to the club totaling $6,500.

Authorities found no evidence that Rizzo had taken any of the money for himself.

Since the scheme came to light, Rizzo, a community leader who was also president of the local Rotary Club, has been forced to step down from both positions. Some of his Placentia friends have distanced themselves from him and questioned his judgment. And the club he left has been struggling to come back from the financial edge.

Rizzo declined to comment on the case.