Former Riverside County Sheriff's Deputies Guilty on Two Counts in Towing Kickback Case

Lina Portman3 days ago

2 6 minutes read

They worked as high-ranking officials in the Temecula Police Department's traffic division.

Two former Riverside County sheriff's deputies accused of accepting bribes from the owner of a Temecula towing company were found guilty of multiple felony counts Friday, days after jury deliberations began.

The Riverside trial, which began in mid-May, came more than four years after former Lt. Sam Flores and Sgt. Robert Christolon was indicted by a Riverside County grand jury in March 2020.

The two former deputies were convicted on two counts: accepting a bribe as a senior executive and conspiracy to commit a crime. They were acquitted of a third charge, unauthorized use of a computer system, according to a spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Cody Close, the owner of DJ's Towing in Temecula who was also charged in the case, was convicted of felony counts of bribery of an executive and conspiracy to commit a felony, according to the district attorney's office.

Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for mid-October. The Desert Sun was unable to reach the defendants' attorneys Friday afternoon to inquire about the possibility of an appeal.

The central allegation was that the MPs used their position to give additional business to Close's company in exchange for various bribes. Flores and Christolon were also accused of allowing another deputy to improperly fill out and edit reports on the department's online system.

That deputy, Kevin Carpenter, has already pleaded guilty to three felony counts after reaching a plea deal and agreeing to assist the district attorney's office with its investigation.

Flores and Christolon worked as high-ranking officers in the Temecula Police Department’s traffic division, which is staffed by the sheriff’s department. Carpenter also worked in the traffic division, full-time until 2018 and occasionally for overtime thereafter. Flores and Christolon were transferred to the Jurupa Valley station in 2019, and Carpenter became a reserve deputy there that same year, according to court documents.

During closing arguments Tuesday and Wednesday, prosecutors with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office pointed to gifts Flores and Christolon received, including discounted or free cars, auto parts and a discounted stay at an Oceanside vacation home owned by Close’s family, as evidence of the bribery scheme they say occurred in 2018 and 2019.

Defense attorneys for the three men on trial have disputed the allegations and questioned Carpenter's testimony, repeatedly calling him a liar who “sang for his dinner.”

Prosecutors present “influence buying case”

Assistant District Attorney Natasha Sorace, who led the prosecution team, described the case as an “I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine” scheme.

“This was a case of petty corruption,” Sorace said, adding that Flores and Christolon “became too close to Cody Close and his towing company” and “crossed the line.”

She described a lengthy timeline, beginning in 2016 and 2017, when Carpenter — known internally as “the tow guy” — began developing a relationship with Close and DJ’s Towing. He spent much of his time impounding parked vehicles and improperly filing tow reports in the department’s computer system, prosecutors said.

Court documents allege that Flores and Close developed a relationship after the lieutenant received a favor by acquiring a 1968 International pickup truck in 2018. Prosecutors also said Carpenter was allowed to add his name to the Traffic Bureau's overtime roster whenever he wanted.

Noting that a bribe does not require a specific value or explicit agreement, Sorace pointed out that Flores was staying at a beach vacation home in Oceanside offered by Close. Although the stay was worth thousands of dollars, she said, Flores paid about $500 for it.

She referenced other transactions involving free or discounted cars from Close's store, including the International, a 1979 Corvette and a 2009 Honda Civic, as well as parts from a 1990 Corvette Close is also accused of giving Carpenter a 2014 Chevrolet Bolt for free.

In exchange, she said, Close got additional tows from the department and additional cars brought to her shop, with Flores recommending another company run by Close as a hazardous materials seller for Riverside County on same day, according to the indictment.

“This is a case of buying influence,” Sorace said, stressing that corruption charges do not require an explicit agreement between the parties.

The prosecutor also said Flores recommended Carpenter return to the department's southwest station in late 2018, adding that DJ's Towing received preferential treatment in the department's rotation over other towing companies that partner with the department.

Sorace also showed pages of text messages between Flores and Close discussing the Oceanside beach house, as well as the possibility of Close becoming a hazardous materials vendor for Riverside County.

The case “relates to Kevin Carpenter towing to DJs … at the same time his supervisors were receiving cargo from the same towing company,” Sorace said.

Defense: Key witness is a 'pathological liar'

A defense attorney for Flores, Michael Reed, pushed back on Sorace's description of events and described Carpenter as “a pathological liar” who “deceived” prosecutors.

Reed noted that Flores had repeatedly reprimanded Carpenter for his aggressive towing practices, which prosecutors said involved finding parked cars with expired registrations and towing them away, as many as eight per shift.

Flores also helped open an investigation into Carpenter when they worked together earlier, but the deputy in charge of the investigation did not complete it within the statute of limitations, Reed said.

Reed also cited some joking messages between Flores and Close as evidence of their budding friendship rather than any conspiracy, telling the jury, “Don’t let friendship cloud your judgment.” Sorace disagreed, describing the interactions as transactional between two people “who barely know each other.”

While the timeline of the case has largely focused on events in 2018 and 2019, defense attorneys have said Carpenter's towing schemes spanned seven years.

“That train left the station before any of those three good people knew what was going on,” Vikas Bajaj, an attorney representing Close, said in closing arguments.

Bajaj added that Carpenter was “singing for his dinner,” calling him the prosecution’s “star witness” — a characterization Sorace disputed. Bajaj showed Carpenter's signed 2023 felony plea form, under which his sentence would be reduced from four years in prison to two years of formal probation, with the possibility of expungement if he agreed to cooperate.

Regarding the alleged preference Close's company received in call rotations, Bajaj also pointed to the department's policy that states that an “alternative rotation may be called” after half an hour of unsuccessful calls. using standard rotation.

Defense lawyers also challenged the investigation into the case. They noted that the investigator, Deputy Nicholas Jones, failed to interview a captain who led a street racing task force in 2019 that included all three defendants. Bajaj said some reports were disregarded because they “didn't fit the plot”.

He also indicated that “jealousy” and “envy” were factors in the case, saying one of the officers questioned by the criminal grand jury before the indictment, Lt. Michael Hatfield, was jealous that Flores got the promotion he wanted.

Defense teams involved in the case have already raised concerns about a second report by an outside investigator that was allegedly altered to alter its findings, according to an article published last year in the Coachella Valley Independent.

That outside report, completed by a retired prosecutor's investigator hired by the sheriff's department, found that Flores had conflicts of interest with Close, but that his poor judgment did not warrant criminal bribery and conspiracy charges, according to CV Independent.

During closing arguments this week, Reed also noted that the Oceanside beach house Flores used belonged to Close’s mother and had not been rented in several months. Flores also paid a $500 cleaning fee and cleaned the place himself after staying there with his family, according to Reed.

Reed also discussed the condition of the cars Close gave Flores. Regarding the 1968 International, he said the car was “abandoned” and listed as “junk” on Department of Motor Vehicles documents, while the 1990 Corvette had parts badly damaged. He also said there was “no evidence” that Flores obtained the 1979 Corvette, which came from DJ’s Towing in San Diego.

Christolon’s attorney, Michael Williamson, also discussed the Honda Civic Christolon got for $200, calling it a “diversion” to consider the car’s market value in a lien sale. He also noted that other Riverside County employees buy cars with liens on them, referring to “diversions” throughout the case.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Tom Coulter covers mid-Valley towns for The Desert Sun. Contact him at [email protected].

They worked as high-ranking officials in the Temecula Police Department's traffic division.

Prosecutors present “influence buying case”

Defense: Key witness is a 'pathological liar'

Lina Portman

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