Sheriff's Office misappropriated funds to staff a conference, but not in a way that warranted criminal charges, per DA investigation.

As he was being interviewed by the Monterey County District Attorney's chief investigator over allegations his office misused public funds, stole county property and committed timecard fraud in using on-the-clock deputies to staff a statewide law enforcement conference, Sheriff Steve Bernal looked to his attorney for approval to answer the most basic question: What was Bernal's involvement in the planning and execution of the 2019 California State Sheriffs Association Conference?

Before allowing him to answer, attorney Charles Keller told DA Chief Investigator Ryan McGuirk that Bernal shouldn't be facing a criminal investigation into his department's actions surrounding the conference and that the sheriff "never had the requisite state of mind necessary for criminal charges."

At the four-day conference, deputies were paid to drive sheriffs—and their spouses or partners—from all over California to various conference events, to golf games and to the Swiss Rifle Club in Gonzales for shooting events, but told to state they were on other assignments on their timecards. The Sheriff's Office also provided 21,000 rounds of ammunition for a day of shooting events at the range in Gonzales, and accepted vehicle donations from Enterprise Rental Car to use as "courtesy shuttles" by deputies, as well as two donated charter buses, with professional drivers. 

Earlier this month, Enterprise received a $505,000 contract from the Sheriff's Office for the lease of 13 vehicles for four years. 

Keller told McGuirk that Bernal had little to do with the planning, but allowed him to answer some questions in what was described as a voluntary interview. Bernal said he had participated in site visits that were chosen for each venue of the conference, that he attended briefings and meetings on the conference, "but really let his staff run the show." 

The investigation, which ultimately led to no charges being filed against Bernal, is laid out in a report sent to County Administrative Officer Charles McKee by District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni, who in her introductory letter to McKee wrote that her office could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bernal committed any crime in connection with the conference.

Pacioni also stated in the letter, dated June 20, 2020, that while "there is considerable evidence that expending public monies on salaries of deputies who drove attendees to events at the conference" was without legal authority, there wasn't enough evidence to prove Bernal "knew the extent of the misappropriations"—or that the appropriations were unlawful—and that he wasn't criminally negligent in failing to know the appropriations were unlawful. She adds she thought it was necessary to bring the facts concerning the expenditures to the attention of the county government, "which like Sheriff Bernal, represents the taxpayers of Monterey County."

The report was released nearly one year after its preparation to the Weekly on May 21, 2021 in response to a Public Records Act request the paper filed on March 26. Initially, both the county and the District Attorney refused to release the eight-page report, with the county contending the report belonged to the DA and wasn't theirs to release, and the DA stating the document is "a confidential law enforcement report exempted from disclosure" by government code.

McKee says he released the report because the District Attorney had agreed to waive confidentiality. (The report in full is included below; story continues below the document.)

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According to the report, accusations arose that deputies acted as "Uber drivers" for the conference, and were on call to take to dinners and shopping trips. But Bernal and Sheriff's Chief Kevin Oakley, who McGuirk also interviewed, say the deputies were on hand to provide security for the conference and the "dignitaries" who attended.

But the deputies ostensibly on hand for security and who drove those dignitaries were told to wear only conference-provided polo shirts, cargo pants and their service weapons; none wore protective gear, bullet-proof vests, their duty belts or uniforms.

"The sheriff seemed surprised by this," McGuirk wrote in the report, "and said that MCSO policy requires that while on duty, everyone wears a bulletproof vest, and if they were not wearing a vest it would be a policy violation." In her letter to McKee, Pacioni wrote that there wasn't proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Bernal knew the deputies weren't providing security "or that they did next to nothing when not driving." 

According to McGuirk, the deputies assigned to the detail all summarized their duties as minimal.

"One deputy said it was a big waste of time. One deputy described their downtime as primarily watching Netflix on their phone," he wrote. "Not one of the deputies said that they spent more than 25 percent of the time they worked this event driving or shuttling attendees to events for the conference."

Meanwhile, deputies were directed not to go inside the conference site because the hotel did not want a heavy uniform presence around the building that could intimidate non-conference hotel guests. 

On at least three occasions, deputies drove spouses of attendees to Del Monte Shopping Center to run errands for clothing items attendees forgot. One shopped for an hour, then called for a deputy-driven shuttle to pick her up. Another had a cowboy hat he purchased driven back to the hotel by a deputy because the attendee didn't want to carry it around Carmel. 

One deputy, meanwhile, logged 53 hours of work during the conference, but only drove three shuttle trips—one from the San Jose Airport to the hotel, and two from the Monterey Airport to the hotel. 

"All of the deputies I interviewed said they were not given any direction on how to code their own timesheets and were told to leave the 'event code' specific to their full-time assignment in place," McGuirk wrote. A deputy who worked in the jail would thus leave the jail code on the timecard, while a patrol deputy would use the patrol code. 

In a breakdown of the hours spent, eight deputies who drove conference attendees over the four days were paid a total of $21,433.44. 

Plans for even greater security were dialed back at Oakley's suggestion, including a proposal in the original operations plan to place snipers on the roof of the Marriott Hotel, the conference location.

McGuirk, meanwhile, wrote that the executive director of the CSSA declined to speak to him and refused provide him with security plans and conference agendas for previous conferences. 

"We reached out to the State Attorney General and requested they handle any prosecutorial responsibilities, but this request was declined," McGuirk wrote. The AG's office, after months of back and forth, "finally concluded they would neither review for prosecution nor separately investigate this matter" and there was no legal conflict that prevented the DA's office from investigating the county sheriff.

Through department spokesperson John Thornburg, Bernal states, "we appreciate the independent review by the District Attorney's Office. We will incorporate some of the findings into future events."

Former Deputy Sheriffs Association President Dan Mitchell, who medically retired and now lives in another state, said in a previous interview that deputies who worked the sheriff’s conference were told to clock in, but then fill out payslips reflecting they were at a jail meeting or SWAT callout.

“Someone asked me to sign their overtime slip, and I said, ‘I’m not signing it,’” Mitchell says. “I just want them to do the right thing and the right thing is not saying you’re at one place when you’re at another.”

In a written statement from Cesar Lara, program and policy director of the Salinas-based social justice group MILPA Collective, Lara writes the DA's report is why the public needs greater transparency from law enforcement.

"Learning that Sheriff department employees stated that they were working at the jail, yet were actually being used as drivers during a private function is wrong, and constitutes a misrepresentation of public funds," the statement reads. "While MILPA wants to hold this as an example of why truth and clarity is needed in the Sheriff's budget, we also stand for the narrative that public safety is more than solely funding law enforcement.

"If we are all as serious about public safety as we say we are," it adds, "we would also invest in physical/ mental/ behavioral health, positive youth development, healing, employment, housing, and fresh start programs that help folks begin anew."