Former Modesto Mayor Carmen Sabatino said Monday he could have had 11 felony charges dismissed for $4,773.
He said friends urged him to accept a civil compromise offered by the Stanislaus County district attorney's office, to end a legal battle that has dragged on for more than two years.
He said he rejected two different deals, because they would have forced him to do two things to which he objects.
"I'm not guilty of any of this stuff, and they know it," Sabatino said.
So instead of making the case go away, prosecutors upped the ante during a brief hearing in Stanislaus County Superior Court, by adding a 12th felony charge.
Assistant District Attorney Carol Shipley said her office is ready to go to trial.
She declined to discuss the details of any settlement offers but said she was surprised by Sabatino's decision to take his case to a jury rather than accept a civil compromise.
In court, Deputy District Attorney John Goulart added a second conflict of interest charge to a complaint that includes charges of perjury, grand theft and misappropriation of public money.
Sabatino pleaded not guilty to the amended charges, then waived his right to a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors would have laid out evidence against him.
The hearing had been scheduled to begin Monday and last a week or more.
Defense attorney Ramon Magaña said Sabatino waived the preliminary hearing so he could preserve certain issues for trial. He declined to elaborate.
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Franklin Stephenson said Sabatino will be held for trial on all 12 charges. Stephenson is presiding over the case because Stanislaus County's judges recused themselves.
The former mayor is scheduled to return to court Nov. 14, when the judge is expected to set a trial date. Sabatino is represented by a court-appointed attorney, but he could be ordered to repay the cost of his case, win or lose.
The latest charge accuses Sabatino of using an employee of his former restaurant, the Mediterranean Market and Grill, to cater meals for the City Council. Prosecutors contend that Sabatino failed to divulge his interest in the employee's catering business.
The previous charges accuse Sabatino of failing to disclose $3million in loans on forms required by the state Fair Political Practices Commission; reporting $30,000 from the daughter of a developer as income, rather than a gift; voting on 14 issues involving CableOne while receiving free TV service in his home; using city employees to do personal business; and passing fees on to his employees when restaurant customers paid with credit cards.
Magaña said the civil settlement would have involved a stipulation that Sabatino had violated some rules and a promise to pay restitution to his employees. All criminal charges would have been dismissed.
Sabatino said prosecutors could have gotten the same outcome - and saved taxpayers a lot of money - by filing complaints with the state's Fair Political Practices Commission and Labor Board.
The former mayor contends that the criminal charges are the result of a political vendetta.
He said he used to think he was the victim of "selective" prosecution but now believes he is the victim of "creative" prosecution.
For months, Sabatino claimed that the district attorney's office brought charges at the request of his political rivals, such as longtime Supervisor Ray Simon and former Chief Executive Officer Reagan Wilson.
But Magaña dropped a request that the district attorney's office be removed from the case and be replaced by the attorney general's office, when then-District Attorney James Brazelton retired in July.
Shipley said Brazelton spearheaded the Sabatino investigation and approved the charges that were filed. But she insisted her office has not been subjected to undue influence.
"There is no political influence by anybody in this case," she said.
Shipley said her office is willing to negotiate a settlement with Sabatino, because it can be hard to sell a political corruption case to jurors, who may abide by a "no harm, no foul" philosophy.
She noted that prosecutors came up empty in two political corruption cases in recent years.
In April 2004, a jury said then-Hughson Mayor Bart Conner was not guilty of misappropriating government funds, even though he made $3,754 in personal purchases on his city credit card.
In August 1999, a jury said then-Modesto Police Deputy Chief David Leonardo was not guilty of conflict of interest, even though he purchased two guns from a sale of surplus police guns that he organized.
Shipley said Sabatino can mull over an offer until his arraignment. After that, she said, prosecutors will go full speed ahead to trial.
If Sabatino ultimately accepts a civil compromise, she said, at least one supervisor will be upset.
This is cache, read story here