Posted on 02/26/2005 6:12:40 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's former fiscal officer was sentenced to three months in jail for embezzling more than $65,000 in state money he spent partly for trips to Hawaii and a down payment on a Nissan 350Z sports car.
Michael Keolanui, 34, also will make restitution and serve an additional three months of home confinement. He had faced up to a year in prison under a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. He pleaded guilty in September to forging two checks totaling $53,700, felonies that could have carried a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
He was accused of forging six additional checks totaling more than $11,700.
He also admitted using his state credit card for personal expenses, paying the bills with checks from an office supplies and equipment account between July 2002 and March 2004. He also sought reimbursement from the state controller's office for personal expenses he claimed were government spending.
An investigation began after vendors began complaining they weren't being paid.
Bustamante's office said previously that his new fiscal officer no longer uses a state credit card and his chief of staff now signs all checks.
Now - what about Bustamante??? Another 'disease' left over from the Davis corrupt, liberal reign of disaster in California. The good news was we got rid of Davis (who should be behind bars) but the bad news is, his goons and corrupt henchmen are still in office....and infesting the state legislature.
3 Months is all the sentence he gets?!!! Does not seem like much of a deterant now does it. How much did they catch him with?
That sure is setting an example...
20 years reduced to 3 months.
A slap on the wrist,, agreed.
It sure was awful convenient to run this on a saturday afternoon, too.
>>...will make restitution and serve an additional three months of home confinement. He had faced up to a year in prison under a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. He pleaded guilty in September to forging two checks totaling $53,700, felonies that could have carried a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
What a joke! 3 months of home confinement is punishment?
You ain't tasted him mama's cooking, huh? lol ;-)
LOL. I was thinkin' maybe if he had a wife like Hillary, there could be justice. But somebody implied he was gay.
I wish they'd lock him up for 5 years (and take Cruz with him!)
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