Steve Collins used his last few minutes of courtroom testimony to skewer other public officials in the collapse of the regional desalination project.
Collins—the former Monterey County Water Resources Agency board member who pleaded no contest to charges of conflict of interest and grand theft from his former employer, Ocean Mist Farms—was sentenced Thursday afternoon to three years of felony probation, $90,000 in restitution to Ocean Mist, and nine months in jail, which Collins will seek to fulfill through community service hours, if approved by probation officers.
With about 20 supporters in the courtroom, Collins denied wrongdoing, or at least deliberate wrongdoing.
"I've come to appreciate that my actions regarding conflict of interest, however unintentional, had a significant impact on delaying a water project desperately needed for the Peninsula.
"No one put a gun to me head and forced me to sign the RMC contract."
He went on to enumerate evidence he'd tried to present in court, but had been denied. His aim was to show that legal counsel and county officials were in on the deal and encouraged him to do it from early on.
Collins also denied the claims regarding over-billing Ocean Mist for his accounting work. "I am not a thief," he said. "It has been my honor and privilege to serve Ocean Mist Farms for 24 and a half years."
Judge Robert O'Farrell stopped Collins after 10 minutes. "I think it’s enough, I got the gist of it," he said. "I think you knew I knew that was your position.
"You might’ve said it for media consumption."
Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Hulsey's reaction to Collins' claims echoed a metaphor Supervisor Dave Potter has repeatedly invoked through the criminal proceedings.
"Saying someone else told me to do it is no more persuasive under these circumstances than if the court had someone convicted of a robbery who said, 'My friend told me to do it, and go down the street and rob a 7-11,'" she said. Hulsey requested one year of jail time as the sentence.
Collins' mom, Jan Collins, also spoke in court on his behalf. "My son is 100-percent innocent of these spurious charges," she said. "I don’t believe he’s ever done anything of a criminal nature in his life."
O'Farrell cut her off: "It’s a little late for that now; he’s entered a plea. There’s no point in trying to say, ‘He didn’t do it, he’s innocent.’”
And in case there was any doubt, O'Farrell emphasized this point: "The facts substantiate the charges; I don’t have any question in my mind about that."
(5) comments
Oh, oldguy49...You make my day..I wrote Steve Collins name under Hulsey for Judge, too. She did so many rotten things in this case, illegal, at the behest of those evil Supervisors under the direction of the devil incarnate, McKee, who truly should, at the very least lose his license to practice law...sure, it's perfectly fine to have 60 closed door personnel evaluation sessions per year, blessed by Judge Kingsley, (duh), with more to follow, and screw the public, spend upwards of $3 million of taxpayer money prosecuting this stupid case to justify their wish to not be blamed for the demise of a water project and now to get rid of Marina Coast....Why are you and I the only ones who seem to give a damn??? Where is some in depth reporting here...Sarah does do a good job on the whole...Johnson is in love with the DA's PR dept...Lazy....And I don't think the Californian has ever taken much of an interest in this...But I put the blame squarely on Flippo. He should have looked that madman McKee in the eye when he first approached him with this case and told him, NO, this isn't right.."
The reporting on the Collins sentencing has been so profoundly bad that I have to say something. The plea deal called for Collins to do community service and no jail time. If you actually look at the documents, that is precisely what they say. But no, the press, intellectually lazy, simply take the press release from criminals such as Calcagno and our next sleazebag Judge Hulsey and print it. The only corrupt officials in this County sit on the Board of Supervisors and McKee should be disbarred, or better yet, sit in Monterey County jail for 2,700 days.
I have staged a private protest by cancelling my subscription to the Herald, Jim Johnson is perhaps one of the worst journalists I have witnessed. I do not trust a thing he writes. I understand editors put the headlines out, but Johnson's article is almost verbatim from the DA press release, as is KION's. So is the Californian, but I have never expected anything from them so I am never disappointed. I must confess I am also a bit disappointed in Sara with her report, but she appears to have at least done some research. For Hulsey to quote Dave Potter is the ultimate insult, even Hulsey knows Potter is the slimiest of the group. And for the record "telling someone to go rob a bank" IS a crime. It is called Conspiracy before the fact and is a class 1 felony. That is exactly what I hope these miscreants are facing at the Federal level. Hulsey will make a great Judge, for the record I wrote Stephen Collins name in as my vote for Judge over Hulsey, I know she will win, but a slight poke at this idiot for her horrible behavior. If you are one of the folks that have to draw this idiot as your Judge, bend over and kiss it goodbye, the prosecution will automatically win every time.
Hi, oldguy49...good to hear from you again..Yep,,,my sources tell me he will be there with bells on with a piss pot full of evidence to sink the dastardly County and Cal Am...so evil that bunch... And it will prove VERY costly for them..Bauman certainly didn't want his remarks to get out, but that's so typical of the County...Hulsey, once Collins had to plea had to give up many legal documents, and I don't think she realized how damning those remarks of Bauman would be to the case in good old SF...Whoopee..Collins may have lost this battle with this miserable DA and horrible ruling by this Judge, but I believe in the long run, he will win the war against these evil miscreants..
This is utterly disgraceful. I have read the document Collins attempted to present in Court yesterday, and if the BOS and McKee think this is over, they are dead wrong. THE BOS WERE MEETING IN CLOSED SESSION 12 DAYS AFTER THE PUC VOTE TO KILL THE PROJECT, AS BAUMAN SAID IN HIS DEPO "RESTRUCTURE THE PROJECT AND GET RID OF MARINA COAST". Those basta... negotiated in bad faith and were looking for an excuse to kill the project. Please tell me Collins is going to San Francisco to testify in front of Judge Karnow.
So. let's get another take on this..Collin's Mother at sentencing says, "My Son is 100% innocent and Judge O'Farrell cuts her off by saying, " There's no need to re-try the case"...BS..COLLINS NEVER HAD A TRIAL...This Judge had wrapped such a cacoon around his accusers that there was no way he could bring them into court or even mention their names in testimony!! Yep..That was this unbiased Judge's ruling...So that meant Collins would have NO chance at trial, so he HAD to take a plea..Now Hulsey's spin machine is in full spin mode.
According to Collins handout at sentencing, all fully documented by fact, the DA's office gave a list of Collin's charges, all 39 0f them,to that rotten BOS, a full two weeks before he was actually charged. According to Potter's deposition, the DA used to have regular meetings with the BOS during the duration of this case to discuss it's progress...And she puts the guilty label on Collins????So that people of Monterey County is how justice is handled..A crooked DA's office, a biased Judge and an innocent guy who never stole a penny from Ocean Mist who is thrown under the bus and never had a chance at fairness from the get-go with the excuse from , YOUR NEXT JUDGE FOLKS, ,"he should have known better...." Yep, he never should have take that damn job in the first place...
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