A former California Freeway Patrol officer who initially was accused, together with one other man, of felony embezzlement and auto elements thefts from late 2016 to mid-2018, has been ordered to serve 90 days in Solano County Jail, The Reporter has realized.
Solano County Superior Court docket data confirmed Todd Curtis Smith, 50, who waived his rights throughout a June 21 courtroom look and pleaded to at least one rely of grand theft, was sentenced Monday morning in Division 1 within the Justice Heart in Fairfield. He was represented by Vallejo-based felony protection lawyer Daniel J. Russo.
A county Probation Division report really helpful that the sentence be suspended and Smith be given two years probation, however courtroom paperwork clearly talked about the 90-day sentence, which requires Smith to report by 9 a.m. Nov. 21 to start serving the time.
Decide Jeffrey C. Kauffman additionally ordered a case progress assessment and scheduled it for Nov. 14 however Smith doesn't have to seem for the continuing.
As well as, Kauffman ordered Smith to pay $600 in fines and have “no understanding contact” with two different males linked to the case: Nicholas Ryan Bonachea and Thomas Carpenter.
Bonachea, 41, a former CHP auto technician, is scheduled for a readiness convention and trial setting at 9 a.m. Aug. 24 within the Justice Heart in Fairfield.
The newest developments date adopted a two-day preliminary listening to and a held-to-answer arraignment on Could 4 final 12 months.
Court docket data point out that Smith was arrested Nov. 30, 2018, by a fellow officer on the CHP Golden Gate Division places of work on Benicia Street in Vallejo. Shortly after being booked into Solano County Jail, he posted $35,000 bail on the cost, felony embezzlement/grand theft exceeding $950.
Bonachea was arrested the identical day on suspicion of felony embezzlement exceeding $950. After being booked into jail, he posted a $35,000 bond on Dec. 4.
A 3rd suspect within the case, Thomas Jerome Carpenter, 52, additionally was arrested on Nov. 30 on fees of receiving stolen property, auto elements, amongst different issues. After being booked into jail, he additionally posted a $35,000 bond on Dec. 4.
The three had been arraigned on the fees Dec. 31 in Division 17 within the Corridor of Justice in Fairfield. Every pleaded not responsible.
Within the ensuing months, nonetheless, Carpenter, charged with two counts of receiving stolen property, pleaded responsible and was sentenced on Aug. 17 final 12 months. Nevertheless, publicly accessible courtroom data don't point out precisely what punishment Kauffman imposed. Earlier than he pleaded, he confronted the opportunity of a most of 5 years in jail, plus fines.
Carpenter, additionally an auto mechanic, was initially charged with receiving stolen property exceeding $950 (auto elements, a hand controller, and a CHP medical bag), and his probation time period was transferred to his present county of residence, which, in keeping with courtroom data, is Butte County.
A search of courtroom data confirmed that the case in opposition to him was closed on Nov. 30, 2020, and there was no different info within the courtroom’s doc administration system.
On the outset of the primary day of the preliminary listening to, April 19, Deputy District Legal professional William J. Moser, who led the prosecution on the time, referred to as CHP Detective James Hampton to the witness stand.
Hampton indicated that, at one level, he obtained a search warrant for Carpenter’s dwelling in Pacheco, the place investigators discovered what was described as a “hand-held management machine” and a “touchscreen machine.”
Throughout the dwelling’s search, Carpenter arrived and instructed investigators that he acquired “some gadgets” from Bonachea and admitted, in keeping with Hampton, that he was not licensed to have the gadgets, that they had been stolen and value $2,000. Investigators additionally discovered auto elements belonging to the CHP in Carpenter’s storage.
Hampton famous that Bonachea had labored for the CHP on the Automotive Care Heart in Vallejo since 2015. He additionally testified that the automobile elements, together with brand-new rims and tires meant for CHP autos, had been used on private autos belonging to Carpenter, Bonachea and Smith.
Moreover, Hampton stated, the three males used CHP automobile elements “to save cash” whereas engaged on an “auto-flipping” enterprise.
On cross-examination, Russo peppered Hampton with questions on how he decided the autos had stolen elements. Hampton stated they had been labeled as CHP property, both on a field or with some type of sticker or marking straight on the half.
Fairfield felony protection lawyer Vincent Maher, who represented Bonachea on the time, bought Hampton to confess underneath cross-examination that tires and rims, brake pads “don’t have CHP stamps” or different identifiers on them.
Smith, had he been convicted at trial, confronted as much as three years in jail.
If convicted at trial, Bonachea additionally faces the opportunity of a most three-year time period behind bars, plus fines.
In a criticism filed on Nov. 30, 2018, by the Solano County District Legal professional, prosecutors say Smith and Bonachea dedicated the alleged crimes between Dec. 6, 2016, and June 13, 2018.
Objects listed stolen embody a pc touchscreen, reflective rain jackets with CHP patches, CHP decals, and a CHP cruiser exterior public tackle system.