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$1 million bond for Schaffer

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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.

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