Judge refuses to move O.C. lawyer to jail
A judge Friday rejected a request by Orange County prosecutors to revoke a home-confinement sentence for a prominent defense attorney convicted in a bail-bonds kickback scheme.
Judge Carla M. Singer issued the ruling during a hearing in her chambers at Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, finding that the motion by prosecutors was untimely in the case against Joe Cavallo. He is nearly halfway into a six-month sentence, monitored by probation officers and an electronic bracelet.
Cavallo, 52, once was part of former Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s inner circle and gained notoriety defending the son of a former assistant sheriff in a high-profile gang rape. Cavallo has since become a key witness in a federal corruption case against Carona, who is accused of selling the power of his office to enrich himself and others.
Last year, Cavallo pleaded guilty to three felonies in a kickback scheme in which he paid $50,000 to agents with Xtreme Bail Bonds for inmate referrals. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail and his law license was suspended.
The agents were each sentenced to four-month terms. One of them also was granted home confinement.
Cavallo began wearing an electronic monitoring device in January after the probation department approved his application. Like other defendants serving time at home, his movements are restricted to certain locations and he must check in with probation officers on a regular basis.
Last week, the district attorney’s office filed a motion asking the court to revoke home confinement, send Cavallo to jail and give him no credit for time he has served. Prosecutors said they were not aware that Cavallo was granted home confinement until a reporter called March 6.
In an opposition motion, Cavallo’s attorney, John Barnett, argued that prosecutors should have gone on record during the sentencing hearing in December that they were opposed to home confinement. Barnett had argued at the time that Cavallo serve no jail time.
“I was frankly surprised they filed the motion,” Barnett said Friday.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Ebrahim Baytieh declined to comment.
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