Former Upland city manager faces year in jail over $50,000 deal

A former Upland city manager faces one year in jail after pleading no contest to one felony count of conflict of interest after benefiting from a $50,000 deal he made while in office, prosecutors said.

Robin Dale Quincey, 54, of Upland was arrested in October 2012 as part of an investigation by the FBI and the San Bernardino district attorney’s office of public corruption involving former Upland city officials.

He was initially charged with unlawful misappropriation of public money, gaining personal benefit from an official contract and giving false testimony regarding a $50,000-settlement agreement he entered into as city manager.

The district attorney’s office did not provide further details on the settlement, citing its ties to other cases being pursued.

As part of a deal reached with prosecutors, Quincey on Tuesday paid $25,000 in restitution and will pay another $25,000 to the city by the end of the fiscal year, prosecutors said. In addition to one year in jail, Quincey also faces three years of supervised probation when he is sentenced Oct. 10.

In a statement, San Bernardino Dist. Atty. Michael Ramos said he would “not back down in our fight to combat the misuse of public trust.”

Quincey, he added, was “essentially admitting to unlawfully gaining personal benefit from an official contract.”

Quincey’s attorney, Michael Zweiback, said the former city manager reached the plea agreement with prosecutors in an effort to move on.

“He needed to put this matter behind him to pick up the pieces financially and to move forward with his life and we are hopeful that the court will sentence him in accordance with the plea agreement that has been reached between the parties,” Zweiback said.

As part of the same investigation, former Upland Mayor John Pomierski pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in 2012 and was sentenced to two years in federal prison. After serving time for scheming to extort money and campaign contributions, Pomierski was released four months early in February for good conduct.

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