Hollister
– The former plaintiff in San Benito County’s controversial
corruption case was sentenced earlier this month to a year of
probation after pleading no contest to charges of resisting arrest
stemming from a bizarre run-in with local police last year.
Hollister – The former plaintiff in San Benito County’s controversial corruption case was sentenced earlier this month to a year of probation after pleading no contest to charges of resisting arrest stemming from a bizarre run-in with local police last year.
Juan Monteon, who once served as a plaintiff in an ongoing corruption lawsuit filed by Salinas attorney Mike Pekin, was shot with a Taser gun and arrested in October for allegedly threatening several police officers and charging them.
Monteon pleaded “no contest” to three misdemeanor crimes related to resisting arrest this month, according to court documents. Monteon’s criminal case was unrelated to the corruption case. Monteon, a 32-year-old former bounty hunter, will have to serve 35 days in the San Benito County Jail and pay a $450 fine.
After Monteon’s legal troubles surfaced last year, Pekin revised his lawsuit and dropped Monteon’s name. Pekin’s son, Patrick Pekin, replaced Monteon as the plaintiff in the suit. Pekin sued the county in 2003 alleging that former San Benito County Supervisor Richard Scagliotti used his position on the board to profit financially in a land deal. Since then, Pekin and San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield have gone back and forth with amended suits and accusations, none of which have yet been proven in court.
Sarsfield called the sentence “fair.”
“I’m glad this has been resolved,” he said. “We were able to reach a resolution that was satisfactory for everyone.”
Pekin, who represented Monteon in court, said his client’s conviction would have no effect on his ongoing county corruption suit. The defense attorney declined to comment further on the case. Pekin’s corruption lawsuit has been amended five times since it was filed in 2003 and has gone through two different plaintiffs.
During an hour-long preliminary hearing in April, Pekin argued that Monteon had done nothing wrong during the confrontation with San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies last October. Deputies had been dispatched to Monteon’s home after receiving a report that a suspicious man was standing in front of a residence in the 1000 block of Santa Ana Road. All three deputies present during the October arrest testified that Monteon had threatened them and that he had charged one of the deputies. Deputies had also testified that they used stun guns to try to stop him.
Pekin argued that Monteon never attacked the deputies and questioned why his client was stunned. Prosecutors countered that the deputies used stun guns because they felt threatened.
Two of the deputies testified that they offered to give Monteon a ride home – not knowing that he was standing in front of his house – and that he responded by saying “No, that is not going to happen, you are going to meet your God today and I’m going to make sure it happens.”
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
