Eaves Pleads Guilty, Avoids Prison

Former San Bernardino County Supervisor Gerald “Jerry” Eaves pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of conspiracy for failing to report free Las Vegas vacations he received from a businessman who was seeking county approval for a billboard project.

Under a plea agreement between Eaves and state prosecutors, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Patrick Magers sentenced Eaves to three years of informal probation and a $10,000 fine. Eaves also received a suspended 180-day jail sentence, which means he would go to jail only if he violates probation.

As a convicted felon, Eaves was forced to resign his post, which he did effective Monday.

Three other government officials, including the county’s former chief administrative officer, already have pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges stemming from the 1991 alleged scheme. Prosecutors said it involved hefty payouts to local and county officials to win support for permits to build seven billboards on county land. The billboard project was worth nearly $5 million.

William “Shep” McCook, the Orange County businessman accused of orchestrating the plan and bribing Eaves and others, is scheduled to go on trial May 3. He could get up to eight years in prison if found guilty.

Eaves could have been sentenced to five years in prison if he had been convicted on the original felony charges of conspiracy to violate state conflict of interest laws and accepting a bribe. He was accused of accepting more than $6,000 worth of free accommodations at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas.

Eaves, accompanied by his wife, Jena, said after the court hearing in Riverside that he was glad to put the case behind him. But he continued to insist that his only crime was “sloppy bookkeeping” for failing to submit a state conflict-of-interest report to disclose the Las Vegas vacations. “I’m glad it’s over,” he said. “It’s time to start the next stage of my life.”

Eaves said he was confident that the felony conviction wouldn’t tarnish the 26 years he spent in public office, including stints as a Rialto city councilman and mayor and state assemblyman. “I think my legacy will speak for itself,” he said. “There are lots of people who think I’m a pretty good guy.”

Deputy Atty. Gen. Annie Featherman Fraser said Eaves was involved in a felony conspiracy to conceal the Las Vegas vacations he accepted while he helped McCook build the billboard project in Colton.

“He pleaded guilty because of the felonious conduct that he engaged in,” she said.

But Featherman Fraser said the plea agreement spared the county from an expensive and lengthy criminal trial. “I think justice was done,” she said.