Orange County assessor pleads not guilty to lying on nomination papers
Orange County Assessor Webster Guillory has pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied when he signed off on documents nominating him for the March 2014 primary as he pursued reelection.
Guillory, 70, of Newport Beach pleaded not guilty during his arraignment this week on three felony counts of filing false nomination papers
Guillory, who has held his office since 1998, faces a November runoff with challenger Claude Parrish after neither of them received more than 50% of the vote in March.
To have his name appear as a candidate on the county ballot, Guillory had to collect 20 valid signatures nominating him for the position.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office alleges that Guillory actually signed two pages containing 10 signatures falsely claiming he witnessed their collection. Prosecutors claims that, in reality, it was an associate of Guillory’s who circulated the documents.
Guillory also asked a colleague to falsely sign off on a third page of signatures, according to prosecutors.
If convicted, Guillory could face a sentence ranging from probation to up to four years and four months in jail.
Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck
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