O.C. Sheriff’s Fired Aide Expects Added Indictment Today

Already facing bribery charges, a former Orange County assistant sheriff has been ordered to court today to face additional criminal counts in a case he says is part retaliation, part cover-up.

George Jaramillo, once viewed as the likely successor to Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona, said Monday that he had been told by members of the news media that he would be indicted on charges of misusing county property and lying to a grand jury. Prosecutors would not confirm that report.

Jaramillo, who has pleaded not guilty to the bribery charges and is free on bail, said his prosecution was designed to destroy his credibility and cover up wrongdoing by others in the department, including the sheriff.

Jaramillo said he would ask the state attorney general to intervene in the case, arguing that the relationship between Carona, Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and political consultant Michael Schroeder -- who works as a legal advisor for the sheriff and campaign chairman for Rackauckas -- presented an obvious conflict.

If an outside agency doesn’t step in, Jaramillo said, the public may never know what is going on behind the scenes at Orange County’s two top law enforcement agencies.

“It’s time the public understands that their attempts to undermine my credibility really are nothing more than attempts to protect themselves from public scrutiny,” Jaramillo said. “This has got to be seen for what it is: an attempt on their part to save their own necks.”

Susan Kang Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the district attorney and the wife of Michael Schroeder, declined to comment. A sheriff’s spokesman could not be reached.

Michael Schroeder said he had not “met or spoken with the prosecutor in this case or had any role, formally or informally, in the prosecution of this case.”

County prosecutors impaneled a grand jury last week to investigate various allegations, including misuse of department resources and perjury, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the case and witnesses who were called to testify.

KCAL-TV Channel 9 reported Monday that Jaramillo was indicted by the grand jury on two counts of lying to a previous grand jury and four counts of misusing county property, including a sheriff’s patrol helicopter. In all, Jaramillo would be facing 14 felony counts and could get 19 years in prison if convicted on all of them, KCAL reported.

The new indictment marks the latest turn in a scandal that has destroyed friendships among Orange County’s most powerful figures and dimmed the sheriff’s political star.

Jaramillo, who was key to Carona’s first two campaigns and served as his top assistant once in office, was fired in 2004 by the sheriff shortly before Jaramillo was charged with corruption.

Authorities alleged that Jaramillo misused county resources and improperly worked as a paid consultant while helping stage demonstrations for CHG Technologies Inc., a company promoting a laser device designed to stop cars fleeing police.

CHG owner and former convict Charles H. Gabbard, who has admitted funneling money to Carona’s campaign chest through an illegal stock-swap scheme, has been granted full immunity and is a key witness in the case against Jaramillo.

After his testimony, during which he seemed both to implicate and vindicate Jaramillo, prosecutors repackaged the case against Jaramillo and took it to the grand jury.

Last summer, that grand jury came back with different charges against Jaramillo: four felony bribery counts, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, and two counts of misdemeanor conflict of interest. The indictment alleges that the $25,000 Jaramillo was paid as a consultant was a bribe.

Jaramillo, who maintains he is innocent of all charges, said:

“Why is Tony Rackauckas absolutely opposed to investigating these same issues with regard to Mike Carona? Why isn’t he looking that way?”