Assistant to Baca Fixed a Ticket

An assistant to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca improperly fixed a speeding ticket given to the wife of one of the sheriff’s campaign contributors, department officials acknowledged Thursday.

A sheriff’s deputy issued the citation Sept. 28 to Hayat Abourjeily. According to the ticket, she was cited for driving her 1997 Mercedes Benz at 41 mph in a 30-mph zone and for driving without a license.

On Oct. 2, a man identifying himself as Jason Ghanem, Abourjeily’s husband, called Baca’s office. Sgt. Steven Katz returned the call on the sheriff’s behalf.

Ghanem identified himself as a member of the sheriff’s civilian advisory board, Katz said. “He said his wife had received a citation. He wanted to know if there was a way this situation could be resolved,” he said.

Katz said that, without consulting anyone else, he voided the ticket--a move that officials say clearly violated Sheriff’s Department policy. In general, ticket fixing is illegal.

In an interview, Katz acknowledged his error.

“It clearly was a mistake,” Katz said Thursday, stressing that the sheriff was never contacted. “I take full responsibility for causing it . . . I have no doubt that there will be discipline.”

Sheriff’s officials say they reinstated the ticket this week after being contacted by The Times. The department has launched an internal investigation into the matter, they said.

Katz said he has never fixed a traffic citation before or done any other favors for people identifying themselves as members of Baca’s advisory board.

Ghassan Ghanem, also known as Jason, owns G&G; Auto Exchange, a car dealership in East Los Angeles, according to a worker there. Ghanem confirmed to a reporter this week that he is married to Abourjeily. G&G; Auto Exchange gave Baca’s first campaign for sheriff $500 in October 1998, state and county records show.

Ghassan Ghanem is not on the department’s advisory board, according to Cmdr. Mike Kenyon. Even if he were, Kenyon said, that would not give him the right to have a ticket withdrawn.

“It’s against the law,” Kenyon said of ticket-fixing.

Other than to confirm that he is married to Abourjeily and that he visited the Temple City station to challenge the ticket, Ghanem refused to discuss the incident.

Reached by telephone at her home, Abourjeily, 28, initially denied that she had received a speeding ticket. Then she said she had been cited about three months ago but cleared up the matter with traffic school. She said she did not know the sheriff but would not answer questions about her husband or the current citation.

“I really don’t know what to tell you,” she said before ending the conversation.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Patrick Gomez, who is running against Baca in the March election, said the incident was an embarrassment. “Who’s really in charge here?” he asked.

Kenyon said the sheriff, who has twice attended traffic school, was very upset at the situation.

“The sheriff has made it very clear--he’s told me and I’ve heard him tell his wife--if you get a ticket, you pay for it,” Kenyon said. “He is absolutely unbending on that.”