Rumors are flying in every direction about the POST scandal. Even my best sources are being inundated with opposing rumors. Some seem to be being put out there intentionally to see who within the department is leaking them.
So far this morning I have heard that the arrests are taking place today, that the arrests are taking place tomorrow, that the arrests are taking place after the 26th, and that there will be no arrests at all.
Bill Postmus—Elected Official
Gary Penrod and Rod Hoops—Elected Officials
Bill Postmus—Accused of conspiracy in allowing employees to receive pay they were not eligible for.
Gary Penrod and Rod Hoops—Conspired to cover up 27 employees who received pay for which they were not entitled as well as having committed a minimum of 27 misdemeanors and/or felonies.
As always, I will believe this when I see it but here is the latest scoop:
The indictments are expected to be announce March 7, 2011. It is necessary to wait until that time to allow for the retirement or transfer of those involved. I understand some transfers were announced Friday with more to come. All individuals being indicted have been notified.
No one will be charged with felonies. All charges will be misdemeanors. Remember some of the thefts are in the tens of thousands of dollars. Must be nice to have connections.
As I have said in previous posts, I will believe former Sheriff Gary Penrod will be indicted over the POST scandal when it happens. Penrod is guilty of covering up criminal behavior, misuse of public resources, allowing theft of public resources and interfering with the investigation along with possible other crimes. Much of the Sheriff’s Department executive staff is also guilty of similar crimes. But I was given the likely scenario if by some miracle Penrod is charged.
We have yet another source who has named some of the individuals who are expected to be indicted in the POST scandal. I am not going to name the captains, lieutenants, or sergeants, but I am going to name the big name that we are hearing.
Are you listening US Attorney? San Bernardino County is in crisis. The principles our nation were founded on are being undermined by the very person sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States—the person charged with enforcing the Constitution and all state and local laws at the county level.
When one reads the California District Attorneys Association Code of Ethics reprinted in Part One of this series, it is easy to see its President and our county’s District Attorney, Mike Ramos, has broken every concept put forth in that document. He flagrantly violates those ethical standards while claiming to be in the pursuit of “justice.”
Since the newspapers have not given it much coverage, most of you are probably not aware of the fact that there is another jury trial going on at the San Bernardino Courthouse. The every, very long-awaited Nancy Bohl and Ray Pryke trial has been going on for a while now.
The concept I am writing about is hardly new to iePolitics. What is new is that I am going to relate it specifically to the discussions we have been having about morality in the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
I will ask a question I have asked more than once on this blog. If a man (or woman) is willing to break the most important covenant given to him by God, then why should we expect any higher degree of integrity or morality on lesser issues? The covenant of which I write is, of course, that of marriage.
You know Neil, we try to defend you here at iePolitics most of the time. But some things are beyond defensible.
For example, your comment that the POST scandal is a personnel matter. It is NOT a personnel matter. It is a FELONY matter that involved Sheriff Rod Hoops, former Sheriff Gary Penrod, and at least a couple dozen others ranging from clerical staff to deputy chiefs. It is misconduct of the worst kind by public officials and it is being swept under the rug with the tacit approval of the board of supervisors.
But it’s okay because you all endorse one another for election, donate to one another’s campaigns, and attend one another’s fundraisers. We wouldn’t want justice to interfere with that, now would we?
San Bernardino County Sheriff Rod Hoops
Like we mentioned earlier this week, selective prosecution is alive and well in San Bernardino County. As Mark Gluglueck pointed our below, not all lawbreakers are treated equally, especially if the lawbreaker is a cop.
In the context of Mark’s story, is it any wonder at all that the high-ranking officials from the Sheriff’s Department have not been prosecuted for the POST scandal? For those who forget what the POST scandal is all about, here is the link: A Legacy of Malfeasance—Part-2
District Attorney Mike Ramos
The San Bernardino County Sentinel
Friday, July 16, 2010
Former sheriff Gary Penrod accumulated compromising information and materials pertaining to district attorney Mike Ramos which was then utilized to blackmail Ramos and head off an incipient effort by the district attorney’s office to file criminal charges against Penrod pertaining to a host of criminal acts the sheriff was himself involved in.
We are getting very close to the statute of limitations running on the defendants in the POST scandal and no charges have been filed by San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos. We are getting very close to the statute of limitations running on former San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger and staff for the destruction of official records when he left office and no charges have been filed by San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos. We are perhaps not as close to the statute of limitations running on Grand Terrace City Councilwoman Bertha Bea Cortes. but still after the complaint being in the hands of San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos for many months, no charges have been filed.
A civil trial in a multi-million dollar libel lawsuit filed by the wife of former Sheriff Gary Penrod against a High Desert newspaper publisher and has been postponed until August.
Lawyer John Rowell, who represents Penrod’s wife Nancy Bohl, appeared for a hearing via telephone Thursday in San Bernardino Superior Court and requested a continuance, according to court records. The trial that was set to begin Monday was re-scheduled for Aug. 9 with a trial readiness hearing set for Aug. 5. Continue reading