Courts and Legal Clips

Victim’s daughter awarded $245,000

Defendant allegedly encouraged Alexander to fire warning shots at three meat inspectors

The Daily Review

October 3, 2002

By Mark Abramson

HAYWARD — The daughter of a meat inspector slain in San Leandro is slated to get$245,000 from a woman who allegedly encouraged the man accused of killing the three inspectors to fire warning shots at them.

Stuart Alexander awaits trial on murder charges in connection with the deaths of Meghan Shaline’s father, Bill Shaline; Jeannie Hillery; and Tom Quadros at the Santos Linguisa Factory.

The shootings reportedly were captured by video cameras that Alexander had set up himself.

Shaline was awarded the money in a settlement reached in a wrongful death suit that was filed against Alexander’s acquaintance Brooke Silverglide, 23.

In a late-September civil case against Alexander, the sausage factory’s owner, the judge ordered him to pay Shaline $3 million, court documents indicate.

The $245,000 settlement with Silverglide was reached late last week in Alameda County Superior Court.

“She was awarded very little for her loss,” said Andrew

Story jumps to: AWARD, News 7

Schwartz, one of Shaline’s attorneys.

It’s unclear how much of the to collect, Schwartz said.

Alexander, 41, has a history of not paying court judgments, court records show.

According to court documents, Silverglide will use her mother’s homeowners’ insurance policy to pay Shaline.

Silverglide’s attorney could not be reached for comment, and according to court documents, Alexander represented himself.

The three inspectors were gunned down as they tried to make a surprise inspection of the sausage factory on June 21, 2000.

Hillery, 56, of Alameda, and Quadros, 52, of Hayward, were compliance officers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Shaline, 57, of Sacramento, was an inspector for the California Department of Health and Food Safety Services. State food inspector Earl Willis escaped.

Months before the shootings, Alexander had told friends how much he resented the food inspectors’ efforts to shut him down for alleged health code violations, court documents state.

Alexander knew Silverglide, bought her lunches, gave her money and took her shopping for clothes because she occasionally answered phones and did other jobs around the factory, court documents indicate.

According to court documents, Shaline’s attorneys argued that Silverglide knew about Alexander’s resentment for the inspectors and about his temper. The attorneys also contended that Silverglide knew Alexander kept three guns in his factory and that she encouraged him to fire warning shots to scare the inspectors off.

Silverglide suggested that Alexander fire warning shots at the meat inspectors because they trespassed on his property, and Alexander said he thought he could do that, Shaline’s attorneys Schwartz and Charles Kuntz argued.

Bill Shaline was shot six times. After the triple homicide, Silverglide reportedly crawled out a window to avoid going by the three bodies. She called her boyfriend but didn’t report the shooting to police.

“She enhanced the risk (to the inspectors) and never warned the victims,” Schwartz said about Silverglide. “She did bear some responsibility.”

Mark Abramson covers police, public safety, courts and military affairs. To reach him, call (510) 293-2469, or send e-mail to mabramson@angnewspapers.com.

Former USP guard to enter guilty plea

Lompoc Record and Lee Central Coast Newspapers

May 20, 2004

Mark Abramson Staff Writer

A former guard at the U.S. Penitentiary, Lompoc who was arrested in an undercover FBI sting operation earlier this year has agreed to plead guilty to attempting to smuggle heroin into the prison, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The plea agreement between Julio Cesar Vega, 41, of Lompoc, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles stipulates that charges of bribery and possession of drugs with the intent to distribute the narcotics against Vega will be dropped. The federal court judge, however, can consider the dismissed counts upon sentencing.

The agreement also calls for U.S. Deputy Chief Attorney Mary Carter Andrues to ask the court to sentence Vega to the “low-end” of what he could get, which is up to 20 years in prison, five years supervised probation, and a fine of up to ,250,000.

Andrues and Vega’s attorney, Ken Behzadi, of Los Angeles, could not be reached for comment.

No court date has been set for Vega to enter his guilty plea, said Thom Mrozek, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman.

Vega also agreed to cooperate with law enforcement officials in further investigations.

Federal authorities contended in their complaint against Vega that he smuggled heroin into the prison and delivered the drug to inmates for $1,000 to $2,000 an ounce. Vega would sometimes take the heroin as payment and then resell it to other inmates for $2,500 an ounce, the complaint indicated.

“Inmates would tell Vega when the drugs and the money for delivering was obtained, and the inmates would then give the accused a telephone number so he could arrange to get the drugs,” FBI Agent David Blanchard said in the complaint.

According to the complaint, Vega was caught Feb. 12 in Lompoc shortly after he accepted three grams of heroin and $3,000 from an undercover FBI agent posing as the girlfriend of an inmate.

Vega was investigated for two years before he was apprehended, FBI officials said.

Vega is being held in an undisclosed location in the Los Angeles area in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Staff writer Mark Abramson can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 126, or by e-mail atmabramson@lompocrecord.com.

 

Complaint offers glimpse of gangs, drugs behind bars

Lompoc Record and Lee Central Coast Newspapers

February 25, 2004

Mark Abramson  Staff Writer

2/25/04 A federal complaint against a Lompoc Penitentiary officer arrested earlier this month on narcotics and bribery charges offers a glimpse into gangs and drugs behind the prison walls.

According to the complaint, correctional officer Julio Cesar Vega, 41, of Lompoc, conspired with and took bribes from inmates with Hispanic gang ties to deliver them heroin for $1,000 to $2,000 an ounce. Vega would sometimes take the heroin as payment and then resell it to other inmates for $2,500 an ounce, the complaint indicated.

“Inmates purchased heroin and obtained the cash to be paid to Vega through their contacts out on the street,” FBI Agent David Blanchard said in the complaint. “Vega smuggled the narcotics into the (prison) and delivered them to the inmates on a date and at a time of his choosing, without any prior warning to the inmates.

“Inmates would tell Vega when the drugs and money for delivering it was obtained, and the inmates would then give the accused a telephone number so he could arrange to get the drugs.”

Vega was arrested by federal and local law enforcement officers Feb. 12, a day after USP Lompoc’s Special Investigative Staff (SIS) received information from an inmate that the accused was smuggling drugs into the prison, the complaint indicated. The inmate who tipped off authorities, identified in the complaint as CW-1, has a history of giving false identification to law enforcement officers, drug possession and bank robbery.

Vega was arrested by federal and area law enforcement officers shortly after he accepted $3,000 and three grams of heroin from an undercover FBI agent posing as the informant’s girlfriend. The deal took place in a parking lot in the 1600 block of North H Street, FBI officials said.

The veteran correctional officer is charged with trying to bring contraband into a federal prison, bribery and possession of drugs with the attempt to distribute those narcotics. Vega, who has worked at the prison since 1989, was the paint shop foreman for maintenance services at the prison.

Vega remained in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles Monday, unless he is indicted before then, a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release indicated.

His attorney, Ken Behzadi, of Los Angeles, could not be reached for comment.

Staff writer Mark Abramson can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 126, or by e-mail atmabramson@lompocrecord.com.

Acting warden takes over

Lompoc Record and Lee Central Coast Newspapers

March 25, 2004

Mark Abramson  Staff Writer

3/25/04 Al Herrera, the embattled warden of the U.S. Penitentiary in Lompoc, reportedly was asked to leave the prison grounds and his job has been filled  at least temporarily by a veteran Bureau of Prisons administrator.

Joyce Conley took over as acting warden Tuesday. According to the Bureau of Prisons, Conley has been with that agency since 1989. Her experience includes serving as the warden at the Federal Correctional Institution at Beckley, W. Va., and as an associate warden at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind.

Bureau officials in Washington said Herrera, who last week announced his plans to retire at the end of May, went on leave Tuesday. They would not say why he is on leave.

“Mr. Herrera is not being replaced, he is the warden at that facility,” said BOP spokesman Dan Dunne. “(Conley) is serving as the acting warden during his absence and will continue to carry out the duties of the warden until there is no further need for her to do that.”

Frank Campo, the president of the officers’ union, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3048, said he heard from one of his sources that Herrera was escorted out of the prison.

Union representatives and officials with their law firm, the Administrative Law Group of Ontario, said that although they don’t have a clear picture of what happened, they are happy about the situation.

“We have not heard why he was removed, we only heard that the internal affairs had gone in and talked to him and he was pretty much escorted out,” said Bill Friedrich, an investigator with the Administrative Law Group. “I’m delighted. I think there are a number of people who have seen Herrera in his finest and worst hour, which is probably at the same time.”

Herrera’s leave comes amid allegations that the prison was unsafe to work in under his watch; he used government funds to spruce up his federal residence and for personal use; he showed preferential treatment towards Hispanic inmates and subordinates; he was lax on disciplining inmates; he obstructed an FBI investigation into a June 1, 2003 riot; and he stole items from a Lompoc hotel.

As proof that the prison working conditions had become dangerous, corrections officers point to a Oct. 15, 2003, attack that left three officers injured and a June riot in which 40 Hispanic inmates took over a cell house. There was also a rash of stabbings between inmates in late January that caused minor injuries.

Staff writer Mark Abramson can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 126, or by e-mail atmabramson@lompocrecord.com.

Feinstein asks for BOP probe

Lompoc Record and Lee Central Coast Newspapers

October 23, 2003

Mark Abramson  Staff Writer

10/23/03 Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday urged the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to investigate allegations made against U.S. Penitentiary Warden Al Herrera.

Feinstein’s request to BOP Director Harley Lappin comes on the heels of an altercation that left two correctional officers hospitalized after they were jumped and stabbed by inmates on Oct. 15. Another officer suffered minor injuries to his arm in that attack.

The law firm representing corrections officers at the prison, the Administrative Law Group of Ontario, sent a letter to Feinstein’s office the next day asking for an investigation into the safety and security at the prison as well as allegations that Herrera misused government funds to remodel his federal housing and another prison manager’s residence.

The Administrative Law Group contends that there have been more than 1,000 assaults on guards at the prison between a June 1 riot and last week’s attack. Those incidents range from being spat on to violent physical assaults and three corrections officers being held hostage during the riot.

“The ALG (Administrative Law Group) letter makes a number of serious allegations against the warden of the prison, Al Herrera,” Feinstein wrote. “The most serious allegation is the following: Based on the Warden’s policies, the prison has become more and more dangerous. Most of the corrections officers feel that the prison is run by inmates and not the corrections staff and do not have confidence in the Warden being able to correct the situation.”

Feinstein’s request comes after FBI officials said they plan to conduct an inquiry into the allegations at the prison.

Officials at the Federal Bureau of Prisons could not be reached for comment and a USP Lompoc spokesman declined to comment.

Staff writer Mark Abramson can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 126, or by e-mail at mabramson@lompocrecord.com.

Scam suspects may face federal counts, deportation

Irish aliens nabbed in East Bay accused of stealing $405,000

from Home Depot stores

The Daily Review

July 10, 2002

By Mark Abramson

SAN LEANDRO — Three illegal Irish aliens, who were busted in San Leandro last month on suspicion of bilking Home Depot home improvement stores nationwide of at least $405,000, may face federal charges and deportation as a U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI investigation continues.

According to San Leandro police detective Kathy Pickard, the three illegal aliens were traveling around the country in a van and 26-foot trailer they paid cash for, going into Home Depots and replacing the stores’ bar codes, used to ring up merchandise on cash registers, with forged ones that made an item appear cheaper than it really was.

The three would then return those items for the actual price and get a cash refund — up until January, when Home Depot started giving gift cards for store merchandise for returns, Pickard said. They sold the gift cards, she added. One person in Dallas apparently bought $80,000 worth of gift cards, but probably paid about a third of that, Pickard said.

“It’s a brilliant scam, but the big thing about it is that they made that money in seven months,” Pickard said. “They just got really big, fast.”

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, some of the bar codes were forged at various printing stores after one of the men involved had a hard time printing the fake ones out on a computer.

The case has been turned over to the FBI, and as of last week federal officials were still tallying how much money was lost by Home Depot, Pickard said. The Home Depots in San Leandro, Emeryville, Livermore, Pleasanton, Hayward and Union City lost $10,000 total in the scam, and Home Depots in Contra Costa County lost$8,000, she added.

Authorities estimate that Home Depots throughout California were bilked out of $90,000.

Federal officials allege that Home Depots in Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Arizona were also affected by the scam.

The FBI declined to comment on the case, and Home Depot did not return phone calls about the matter.

Police arrested John Hay, 55; Linda Broderick, 48, who is also known as Julie Carter; and Anthony Davenport, 46, who is also known as Andrew Baguley, in connection with the scam.

According to police, Hay was also arrested in Las Vegas in 1993 for trafficking 2.2 pounds of cocaine and spent six years in prison before being deported, only to return to the United States in May 2001.

Federal officials haven’t filed charges yet, but according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the feds seized some of their money from Affinity Bank in San Francisco last week. The amount seized was not clear and was not included in an affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Police said a total of $750,000 was seized in accounts of the three in U.S. and Canadian banks, but more money may be involved.

“They sent $300,000 to a bank in Ireland the day they were arrested,” Pickard said.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has filed criminal charges against the three — six counts of forgery and five counts of burglary.

Some of the forgery charges stem from the trio’s creating fake identities, complete with authentic driver’s licenses and Social Security cards, Pickard said. They also got passports over the Internet under fake names, she added.

Police said they think the scam has been going on at least since October 2001, and that they were shocked to learn that video surveillance at the various Home Depots point to the three being the only people involved in the con job.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office believes the three have been involved in illegal activities in the country since May 2001.

Mark Abramson covers police and public safety. To reach him, call (510) 293-2469, or send e-mail to mabramson@angnewspapers.com.

Burlingame responds to allegations over sewers

Environmental group contends overflows harm bay, threatens suit

Redwood City Daily News

November 2, 2007

Mark Abramson; Daily News Staff Writer

Attorneys for the San Francisco-based environmental group Baykeeper say the only wayBurlingame can avoid a lawsuit from the group is if the two sides make significant headway in talks about alleged problems with the city’s sewer system.

Baykeeper notified Burlingame that it has until late December to show progress on addressing the group’s concerns about the sewer system before a lawsuit is filed in federal court. The group contends that the Bay has been and continues to be adversely impacted by overflows in the city’s system, including discharges of raw sewage.

Baykeeper claims there have been 250 overflows in Burlingame since 2002.

The city responded this week on its Web site by pointing out that $120 million has already been allocated to system improvements and that $29 million has been spent in the past six years. It also stated that the city is reviewing the allegations and will respond appropriately.

“Our system has improved,” Burlingame Public Works Director Syed Murtuza said. “We are completely replacing old pipelines, we are installing new manholes … it is basically (like) putting in a brand-new system.”

Murtuza said the city will review Baykeeper’s allegations and respond to all of them.

An attorney for Baykeeper said the city should move more quickly to repair a system that in some places is 100 years old.

“The capital improvement program is weighted so that all the serious money is put in 15 or 20 years down the line,” said attorney Brian Gaffney. “It doesn’t go fast enough.”

Gaffney said Baykeeper’s allegations are based on studies of the city’s sewer system.

“We documented how many gallons of sewage (are) going into the Bay and neighborhoods,” he said. “The (federal) Clean Water Act says you can’t spill, and they are spilling. We want them to remedy it now.”

Murtuza argues that the city’s system is a lot better than in other cities, but that nothing is foolproof.

“There is no sewer system that exists that has no overflows,” Murtuza said.

E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.

Ryles slapped with multiple criminal charges

Lompoc Record and Lee Central Coast Newspapers

February 9, 2006

Mark Abramson/Staff Writer