Cynthia White
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CNS) – A former Riverside County sheriff’s lieutenant, a former sergeant and a tow truck company owner who conspired in a scam that involved the lawmen steering business to the proprietor in exchange for bribes were sentenced to probation Tuesday.
Ex-Lt. Samuel Flores, ex-sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Martin Christolon and Cody Close were convicted a year ago in the fraud that resulted in unwarranted costs for an unknown number of county residents.
Their co-defendant, retired Deputy Kevin Alton Carpenter, pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe, conspiracy and unlawful use of a government computer network. He was sentenced in October to two years’ felony probation.
Following a trial last spring, Flores and Christolon were each convicted of accepting bribes and conspiracy, while Close was convicted of three counts of bribing public officers. During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Jerry Yang sentenced Close, Flores andChristolon to two years’ probation.
The judge additionally imposed a sentence of nine months in county jail for Flores and four months for Close. However, given the overcrowded conditions in the county’s correctional facilities, it was doubtful they would spend more than a day or two behind bars.
Christolon was also sentenced to six months in a sheriff’s work release program, during which he’ll have to remain employed in some capacity, attend school or perform charitable work.
The District Attorney’s Office’s trial brief offered a comprehensive summary of how the scam was perpetrated.
Carpenter had been assigned to the Temecula station’s Traffic Bureau years before Flores and Christolon arrived, and he had developed a reputation for “devoting his time on duty to impounding parked vehicles, as well as for failing to properly enter those impounds into the sheriff’s computer system orcomplete the paperwork needed to let the vehicle owners know where their vehicles had been towed.”
When he came under Flores’ supervision in September 2017, the conspiracy began to take shape. It was interrupted when Carpenter was the subject of an internal affairs investigation directly related to citizen complaints about his slipshod, overzealous “towing habits,” the brief stated. However, after atemporary reassignment elsewhere, the deputy was placed back under Flores’ supervision, with Christolon acting as the lieutenant’s right-hand man.
Court papers said Flores and Close, owner of TJ’s Towing in Temecula, developed a relationship after the lieutenant received assistance acquiring a classic International pickup truck in early 2018. Soon after, there were lunches and dinners between the men.
Prosecutors said Carpenter was then granted permission to add his name to overtime shifts at the Traffic Bureau whenever he pleased. The deputy began claiming so many overtime shifts “that other deputies started to complain and even scribble over his name on the sign-in sheets,” according to the brief.
When the aggrieved deputies took their complaints to Christolon, “he never did anything in response,” documents stated.
Prosecutors said Carpenter aggressively sought out street-parked vehicles to impound for little or no reason, and TJ’s Towing received virtually all of his calls for service. This occurred even though TJ’s Towing wasn’t always the company on the sheriff’s “rotation list,” maintained to ensure impound business is equitably distributed to multiple companies.
“Towing for the sheriff’s department is a lucrative business,” the brief said, outlining how there’s not only a charge for the tow, but a base charge for the impound and then daily storage fees imposed on owners.
TJ’s Towing received dozens of impound calls from Carpenter, and Flores “personally approved” the deputy’s OT requests. The lieutenant “exchanged hundreds of text messages” with Close, occasionally telling him, “make that money, homie,” the narrative stated.
It said Flores not only received a major cost break on the pickup, but also a 1979 Chevrolet Corvette that had been the subject of a “lien sale.” There was an arrangement for the then-lawman to receive a free stay at Close’s mother’s $4 million Oceanside home, which she periodically rented out. Flores also received free towing services for his personal vehicles, complimentary tickets for him and his family to the Temecula Balloon & Wine Festival, limousine rides and other gratuities, according to the brief.
In December 2018, after Close arranged it, Christolon was able to purchase a 2009 Honda Civic at a lien sale for $200, even though the collective fees attached to the vehicle totaled $3,290, according to the D.A.’s office.
Prosecutors said the scheme came undone after Flores and Christolon transferred to the Jurupa Valley station in mid-2019 and arranged for the Traffic Bureau there to utilize TJ’s Towing — even though it wasn’t on the station’s approved list — immediately prompting an investigation. Carpenter had retired by that time and had started working for the company.
The investigation culminated in indictments against the foursome in 2020.
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