Retired Hollister police Sgt. Ray Wood, who ran for San Benito County sheriff in 2010, could receive a jail sentence at a hearing Friday.
Wood, 54, accepted a plea deal for embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the city officers’ union, according to court records. At a Feb. 17 hearing, Wood pleaded no contest to the lone count against him, a felony grand theft charge, according to records.
He remains out on $60,000 bail and is scheduled for sentencing at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the San Benito County Courthouse in the case prosecuted by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Wood is ineligible for probation. The conviction calls for a three-year prison term, but 30 months of the sentence will be suspended, meaning he is expected to serve six months behind bars, according to court records. He will owe restitution to the victim – in this case, the police union. The judge’s notes indicated Wood admitted to stealing more than $65,000.
His attorney, Michael Rains, previously called the case a “tragic event for both the Hollister Police Association and for Ray and his family.” The attorney said Wood regrets his actions and “has acknowledged that he took money that he should have not taken – that it was not money to take, although he did pay a lot of bills for the police association.” He also said Wood “wants to make it right and do the right thing.”
Rains has pledged Wood would work to pay the money back.
Wood previously pleaded not guilty to allegations he embezzled around $100,000 from the Hollister Police Officers Association during a period of more than six years starting in March 2004 when he had been union president.
Wood retired from the Hollister Police Department at the end of 2010 after more than 25 years there. That year, he also finished with the third-highest vote count in the sheriff’s race won by Darren Thompson.
The state attorney general’s office in August filed the grand theft charge to coincide with an arrest warrant. It followed a five-month probe conducted by an appointed investigator from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Outside investigator Terrence Simpson reported the suspected embezzlement occurred between the start of March 2004 and the end of December 2010, when Wood retired and handed over union duties he had held the prior 14 years.
The criminal complaint alleged that Wood withdrew portions of deposits in cash and used the police-union checking account to fund activities unrelated to the organization.
