Ex-Monrovia Officer Gets 16 Months
A former longtime Monrovia police officer who pleaded guilty to grand theft and filing a false tax return has been sentenced to 16 months in state prison and ordered to pay restitution.
James Eugene Ferris, 49, who was treasurer of the Monrovia Police Officers Assn. from 1986 to 1998, must pay the organization $124,000, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver told the Associated Press on Friday. Ferris must also pay $11,300 to the State Franchise Tax Board, Dver said.
An 18-year veteran of the Monrovia Police Department, Ferris, formerly of La Verne, was arrested Nov. 22 in Northern California, about a year after investigators began looking into irregularities in the police association’s finances.
Investigators said Ferris had been slowly bleeding the organization, apparently to cover gambling debts.
Authorities first became suspicious of financial foul play in late 1998 and placed Ferris on administrative leave. He resigned in February 1999 and was working in a Novato, Calif., store at the time of his arrest.
The association, whose funds Ferris controlled as its longtime treasurer, provides legal protection for officers and contributes to local charities and youth programs.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
