Garofalo pleads guilty to criminal charges

Danette Goulet

Former Huntington Beach councilman and mayor Dave Garofalo pleaded

guilty Thursday to one felony and 15 misdemeanorcharges in connection

with a long-standing probe into his business and political practices.

In an Orange County Superior Court, Garofalo was convicted of criminal

conflict of interest charges following a two-year investigation.

Garofalo amended his often-heard plea of innocence at the hearing to

say he never meant to break any laws.

“I can say this emphatically, those things I’m accused of -- 15

misdemeanors and one wobbler I now understand was a violation of ‘1090

law’ but never, never was it my intention to violate the law,” he said.

Garofalo likened his situation to that of a motorist caught speeding,

saying he was far from alone in his practices, but admitting to having

broken a law he called “archaic and ridiculous.”

Judge Ronald Kreber sentenced Garofalo to three years unsupervised

probation and ordered him to pay a fine of $1,000 by April 10. He must

also complete 200 hours of community service by April 1, 2003 and pay a

penalty of $47,000 to the Fair Political Practices Committee for failing

to accurately report sources of income and gifts.

Having been convicted of a felony Garofalo is forever banned from

holding a public office in this state.

For more coverage of Garofalo’s conviction, see next Thursday’s

Huntington Beach Independent.