Former O.C. Official Is Indicted in Bribery Case

Former Orange County Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo was indicted Monday on charges of bribery and obstruction of justice, accused of using his position as a ranking lawman to help a Newport Beach businessman show off his invention -- a laser device that would disable fleeing cars.

The indictment returned by the Orange County Grand Jury alleges that Jaramillo took three bribes totaling $25,000 from the businessman and persuaded him to hire his sister-in-law as a clerical assistant in exchange for promoting the company that developed the laser technology.

Jaramillo, who was fired more than a year ago, pleaded not guilty and was ordered to return to court Aug. 5 for a pretrial hearing.

After appearing briefly in court Monday, he characterized the charges as “ridiculous.”

“It appears to me this is a theory looking for a crime.... I’m confused as to what it is [prosecutors are] trying to do other than persecute me,” Jaramillo said. “I have never been bribed, and I have never been offered a bribe, and I have never received a bribe.”

Jaramillo was arrested last year in connection with the same case.

At that time, he was charged with misusing public funds and conflict of interest under a complaint filed by the district attorney’s office.

But in a shift of strategy about two weeks ago, prosecutors repackaged the case and took evidence against Jaramillo to the grand jury. And after winning an indictment, which effectively forces a trial, they dropped the original charges.

Jaramillo is now charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, four felony counts of receiving a bribe and two misdemeanor conflict-of-interest charges.

If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison. He could have faced up to nine years on the previous charges.

“These charges are actually more accurate, which basically describe what Jaramillo did,” said Susan Kang Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.

The indictment marks the latest turn in a public corruption case that has been a political embarrassment to Sheriff Michael S. Carona. Jaramillo was once seen as the sheriff’s closest ally and his eventual successor. He had been hired by Carona after serving as Carona’s campaign manager.

Until Jaramillo’s firing and arrest last year, Carona was seen as a potential candidate for lieutenant governor.

But this year he set aside any immediate plan for higher office and is instead seeking reelection to a third term next year.

The original case against Jaramillo was filed in September, about six months after his dismissal, and stems from his relationship with Charles H. Gabbard, the owner of CHG Safety Technologies.

Prosecutors allege that, from 2000 to 2002, Jaramillo helped arrange demonstrations for law enforcement officials that were held to showcase the device that Gabbard’s company had developed to disable cars during high-speed police chases.

In so doing, prosecutors say, he misused deputies from a specialized patrol unit, squad cars and other county equipment.

The first count in the indictment charges Jaramillo with conspiring with Gabbard to obstruct justice, a broad charge that accuses him of standing in the way of justice by using a public, government office for personal gain.

The bribery counts allege that Jaramillo was paid three bribes, one $10,000 check made out to the assistant sheriff’s wife in October 2000, and two checks made out to him: an $8,000 check in November 2000 and a $7,000 check in February 2001.

The fourth bribery count alleges that Gabbard gave Jaramillo’s sister-in-law, Erica Hill, a job as a clerical assistant at Jaramillo’s request. Jaramillo is married to Hill’s sister.

Initially, Hill was charged as Jaramillo’s co-defendant in the criminal complaint filed last year by the district attorney’s office. But prosecutors dropped the charges last week, saying they had refocused the case.

Hill was one of 16 witnesses who were called to testify before the grand jury. The witness list also included Carona and Gabbard, according to the indictment.

Gabbard, who has admitted funneling thousands of dollars to Carona’s 1998 campaign through an illegal stock-swap, has been granted full immunity in exchange for his cooperation.

The ailing businessman, who once ran for City Council in Newport Beach and served time in state prison, is considered one of the prosecution’s prime witnesses. But he has also proved to be unpredictable.

Schroeder would not say whether Gabbard testified in person before the grand jury or whether prosecutors showed a tape of his testimony, which was taken earlier this year at a special hearing that was granted because he suffers from advanced emphysema and prosecutors feared he would die before trial.

At that hearing, Gabbard surprised the courtroom when he said he paid Jaramillo $25,000 in bribes and camouflaged the money as “consulting fees.” In at least four prior interviews with authorities, Gabbard had maintained he paid Jaramillo as a consultant.

And before his testimony ended days later, he reversed himself again, saying that Jaramillo was paid consulting fees to help improve the company’s operations and image and was a “knight in shining armor.”

“He can’t go a few sentences without contradicting himself,” Jaramillo said.