Bribery Charges Against Businessman Are Dismissed

A Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed state bribery charges against Orange County billboard company owner William “Shep” McCook, the last major figure to face charges from a mid-1990s corruption scandal that rocked San Bernardino County.

The five felony counts of bribery and conspiracy were too similar to the federal bribery charges McCook had been acquitted of in August 2004 and so amounted to double jeopardy, Judge Marsha G. Slough said.

McCook had been accused of showering government officials with cash and Las Vegas jaunts in exchange for their help in securing a billboard deal for his company, Oakridge Group Corp.

Slough pointed to a “special finding” that U.S. District Judge Manuel Real made in the federal case that McCook had no intent to violate California bribery laws.

McCook, 59, showed little emotion as Slough issued her decision after a 90-minute hearing in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

“This is the end of a terribly sad nightmare for Shep McCook,” said his attorney, Richard R. Beswick.

The lawyer accused the government of “playing sentencing roulette” with his client by going after McCook first in federal court, where he could have received a tougher punishment.

“You can’t have trials as dress rehearsals,” Beswick said.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Edward Skelly had tried to convince Slough that the federal trial did not directly address the bribes that allegedly changed hands in San Bernardino County.

“We’re disappointed.... We think someone got away with something,” Skelly said.

The state’s remaining legal option is to ask an appellate judge to review the decision.

Former Supervisor Gerald Eaves also had been named in the state case and pleaded guilty in January 2004 to conspiracy for failing to report the Las Vegas vacations. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and fined $10,000.

Shortly after, the supervisor resigned.

During testimony in a lawsuit the county filed against key figures in the corruption scandal, Eaves said McCook had paid for the supervisor’s meals and a two-night stay at the Stardust hotel in Las Vegas in January 1996.

County officials expressed disappointment with Wednesday’s ruling but said they took comfort in the recent judgment in their civil case, which found McCook’s company liable for part of $3.8 million in damages.

“The county has relied on civil courts for justice in this case because we’ve never been satisfied with the actions of the criminal courts,” Bill Postmus, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said in a statement Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors had filed charges against 20 people in the corruption investigation and won convictions against everyone but McCook.

They alleged that from 1996 to 1998, McCook paid nearly $70,000 in bribes and shelled out for Las Vegas vacations for officials involved in approving the construction of seven billboards near Colton.

McCook eventually sold five billboards for $4.4 million. His attorney contended that the cash and gifts were gratuities and not bribes.

In the federal case, the businessman was accused of conspiring to bribe Eaves, former top administrator James Hlawek and Colton City Council members Abe Beltran and Donald Sanders.

Hlawek was sentenced to three years’ probation and community service, Beltran to 15 months in prison and Sanders to 17 days in jail.