$1 million bond for Schaffer
Mark R. Madler
Bond was set at $1 million Friday for Scott Schaffer, the Glendale
resident accused of selling handguns to a member of the Vineland Boyz
street gang in exchange for drugs.
Roger Rosen, the attorney representing Schaffer, was unsure
whether the amount set by Magistrate Judge Stephen Hillman could be
raised to free his client from a federal detention facility where he
has been since his July 13 arrest.
If Schaffer does make bond, he would have to go to a treatment
facility for his cocaine habit, Hillman said.
“The implication of the charges, if true, and of the details of
the criminal complaint, if true, is that this was motivated by a
savage drug addiction,” Hillman said in setting the bond amount.
Schaffer, 51, has been charged in a federal indictment with
selling two handguns to a known felon; possession with intent to sell
cocaine; using cocaine while owning multiple firearms; and having two
handguns with him when selling cocaine.
Schaffer will plead not guilty to the charges when he is arraigned
on Monday, Rosen said.
At the start of the hearing, Rosen told Hillman that two close
friends of Schaffer’s had $300,000 available to put up for bond and
that another friend would allow Schaffer to live with him while the
case was pending.
Schaffer -- appearing in the courtroom in a dress shirt and slacks
-- should not be considered a flight risk because he does not have a
valid passport, Rosen said.
What swayed Hillman to set the hefty bond was the argument of
Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Young on the seriousness of the charges
Schaffer is facing.
Not only did Schaffer meet with members of the Vineland Boyz
street gang to trade handguns for cocaine but would allow gang
members to use taxicabs he owned to deliver drugs or collect
drug-related debts, Young said.
“Gang members don’t kill each other with their hands; they use
guns,” Young said. “It is this man here who made those guns available
to the gang members.”
Federal authorities were led to Schaffer -- a former Glendale
Water & Power commissioner -- after finding a gun registered in his
name at the Granada Hills home of a Vineland Boyz member.
Also arrested on July 13 was Burbank City Councilwoman Stacey
Murphy on suspicion of possession of cocaine and child endangerment.
Police found cocaine and three handguns and 900 rounds of
ammunition at the home of Murphy with whom Schaffer has had an
eight-year relationship.
Murphy is free on $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in
Burbank Superior Court on Aug. 25.
* MARK MADLER covers Burbank City Hall and the courts. He may be
reached at (818) 637-3242 or by e-mail at mark.madlerulatimes.com.