Desert Sun Article
Beaumont officials plead guilty in $43M embezzlement case, get probation, fines, and no jail time.
The defendants were charged in a 33-count complaint, including alleged crimes of conflict of interest, embezzlement of public funds, misappropriation of public funds and conspiracy, according to a press release from the district attorney's office.
The defendants – including Beaumont's former city manager Alan Kapanicas, former economic development director David Dillon, former city planner Ernest Egger, and former finance director William Aylward – appeared Tuesday morning at the Riverside Hall of Justice, where they were ordered to pay a combined $8 million in restitution and placed on probation. None received jail sentences.
Aylward's attorney, James Taylor, made a comment and said that his client will start fresh in 2018 and pay his debt to society. But he added "at this point, I would feel (Aylward's) public service career has ended, unfortunately."
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March 2008
James Taylor, McKee's attorney, said the acquittals are a signal to Bennett that she should heed. Judge Patrick Magers announced that a second jury had found McKee not guilty on all charges. Those verdicts were reached Wednesday, but Magers then ruled that they be sealed and placed a gag order on all parties involved to prevent the outcome from influencing the other jury. McKee had been charged with the special allegation of multiple murders -- meaning that if he had been convicted, he could have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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April 2008
James Taylor, who represented Alfred Hernandez, said his client was facing up to life in prison
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December 2017
Beaumont officials plead guilty in $43M embezzlement case, get probation and fines. None received jail time.
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