San Bernardino Graft Case Grows

Four former high-ranking San Bernardino County officials and three businessmen have agreed to plead guilty in a bribery scandal involving the award of millions of dollars in county contracts, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

At the center of the scam is James J. Hlawek, the county’s former chief administrative officer, who has admitted taking payoffs to secure contracts for a waste management company, a financial services firm and a personnel consultant.

Hlawek, 53, of Carlsbad, retired last year after being placed on administrative leave by the Board of Supervisors. He has been cooperating with investigators since then, according to his lawyer.

Also charged in the case were:

* Harry M. Mays, 60, of Carlsbad, Hlawek’s predecessor, who served as chief administrative officer from 1986 to 1994 and is also cooperating with authorities;

* Thomas O’Donnell, 67, of Carlsbad, the county’s former treasurer-tax collector, an elected post;

* Sol Levin, 67, of Redlands, the county’s former investment officer;

* Kenneth J. Walsh, 52, of Carlsbad, a vice president of Norcal Waste Systems, which operates dump sites for the county;

* Richard Tisdale, 60, of Charlotte, N.C., a financial consultant. He has also agreed to cooperate.

* Ronald Canham, 51, of San Diego, a management consultant.

In a bid for leniency, all seven signed plea agreements admitting their crimes. They are scheduled to be arraigned next month in Los Angeles federal court.

Referring to the four former public officials, U.S. Atty. Alejandro N. Mayorkas said Wednesday that the men “abused their trust and have used their influence in official positions to better their own financial condition without regard for the welfare of the county and the citizens for whom they worked.”

Mayorkas, joined at a news conference by Assistant FBI Director James V. DeSarno and San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod, said the investigation is continuing, but he refused to say whether any others might be charged.

However, Hlawek’s lawyer, John D. Vandevelde, a former federal prosecutor, said his client “expects that others who are even more involved and more responsible will be charged.” He declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Hlawek, he said, deeply regrets his conduct, has been cooperating with law enforcement authorities for more than a year and will testify in any trials in which he is called as a witness.

Another defense lawyer, speaking on background, said he, too, expects “other heads to roll.”

The charges filed Wednesday involve three separate bribery schemes during Hlawek’s four-year tenure as the county’s top administrator.

The first revolves around bribes paid to Hlawek by Norcal’s Walsh and by Mays, who became a consultant to the waste management company after leaving his county post.

Norcal, based in San Francisco, operates several dump sites for the county. Court documents show that Norcal was awarded nearly $20 million in contracts while Hlawek was chief administrative officer.

In his plea agreement with prosecutors, Hlawek acknowledged that in exchange for helping Norcal, he received cash or in-kind payments totaling between $49,000 and $70,000 in 1996 and 1997. The 28 payoffs ranged in amounts from $650 to $5,400.

Prosecutors said some of the bribes were paid directly by Walsh, a Norcal vice president, while others were given to Hlawek by Mays, the San Bernardino County executive-turned-consultant.

Walsh, according to the government, was himself receiving kickbacks from a dirt-hauling firm, Hernandez Trucking, that did business with Norcal.

On occasion, Walsh, Mays and Hlawek would meet and split the pot, according to Hlawek’s plea agreement.

Norcal was not named as a defendant in the case. Mayorkas declined to say whether Norcal was under investigation or if any other Norcal officials had been privy to the payoffs.

The company was hired to run some of the county’s landfills and recycling operations in 1989, and in 1995 the contract was extended to manage all the landfills.

The current contract with Norcal expires in 2001, but Norcal has the option of renewing it through the year 2025.

Chief Administrative Officer Will Randolph, who was hired in mid-April as Hlawek’s successor, said Wednesday that he will ask the Board of Supervisors to review the contract in executive session when it meets Tuesday.

Norcal spokesman Conway Collis said Walsh informed the company “some weeks ago” that he was facing federal criminal charges, “which he described to us as unrelated to the company.”

As soon as the company learned of the probe, it contacted the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles to pledge its cooperation, and mounted its own internal investigation, which found no illegal activities committed by the firm, Collis said.

“After Walsh refused to be interviewed by Norcal’s own attorneys, as part of our investigation, the company terminated him,” Collis said.

In the second bribery scheme, financial consultant Tisdale admitted paying $4,000 each to Hlawek; to O’Donnell, the county treasurer, and to Levin, the county’s investment officer.

Tisdale also picked up the tab for a trip that Hlawek, O’Donnell and Levin took to London in 1997.

In return, Tisdale’s firm, Business Consultants Inc., received a series of contracts for services to the county valued at more than $372,000. They included advising the county on employee benefit plans and a study of court fee collections.

In the third scheme, Canham paid $10,000 in cash bribes to Hlawek, who persuaded the Board of Supervisors to award Canham $94,000 to conduct motivational training seminars for county employees.

County officials said Wednesday that the contracts with Tisdale and with Canham were terminated shortly after Hlawek retired in August 1998 because they were found to be excessive.

The latest criminal investigation of county corruption comes in the wake of recent criminal probes of other county officials conducted by the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office.

In 1998, a San Bernardino County grand jury indicted Waste Management, the nation’s largest trash company, and five individuals associated with the company in connection with its efforts to build a huge landfill in the Mojave Desert near Amboy.

A judge has since dismissed most of the charges against the company and the indicted individuals.

Additionally, former San Bernardino County Planning Commission Chairman Michael Dombrowski was indicted on charges that include misappropriation of public funds and soliciting bribes. His case is awaiting trial.