A month after Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz pleaded no contest to
one misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer in regards
to the District 5 election debacle, the embattled supervisor
submitted a letter of apology to the officer that should be
approved by a judge today.
Hollister – A month after Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer in regards to the District 5 election debacle, the embattled supervisor submitted a letter of apology to the officer that should be approved by a judge today.
De La Cruz wouldn’t comment on what the letter will consist of, but that he will submit it to San Benito County Superior Court Judge Steven Sanders at 10am today for his approval, which will eliminate one of the conditions of De La Cruz’s plea agreement. De La Cruz will also have to pay a fine that should not exceed $1,000, but the exact dollar amount has yet to be determined, he said.
De La Cruz soon will begin work on a fund-raising project for senior center Jovenes De Antano to complete 40 hours of community service as outlined in the plea bargain, according to Hollister Mayor Pauline Valdivia, director of the center.
Making phone calls, setting up appointments and helping with the basic organizational functions of a fund-raiser the senior center will be hosting at Bolado Park will make up most of De La Cruz’s service work, Valdivia said.
District Attorney John Sarsfield, who originally charged De La Cruz with four felony counts of election forgery and three misdemeanor charges in late 2004, dropped all the felony counts as part of a plea bargain last month. The charges were the culmination of a conflict that began when De La Cruz beat Supervisor Bob Cruz by only 10 votes in the March 2, 2004 District 5 county supervisor election. Shortly after that race, the Board of Supervisors launched an investigation into claims that De La Cruz and his campaign adviser, Ignacio Velazquez, broke election laws by illegally handling absentee ballots and coercing a voter, among others.
Included in De La Cruz’s plea bargain were conditions that he would write a letter of apology to investigator Aaron Tripp, who conducted the investigation into De La Cruz and Velazquez, for election fraud allegations.
De La Cruz told the Santa Cruz investigator he “knew where he lived,” which Tripp took as a threat, according to Sarsfield.
Sarsfield said in January that De La Cruz’s no contest plea constituted a successful prosecution for his office, and that after 10 months of investigations and a host of criminal allegations, De La Cruz was convicted of the appropriate charge.
While De La Cruz said he has been working to move forward with his other supervisory duties, he said it is yet to be fully behind him.
“I have concerns that Mr. Sarsfield still tells the public, ‘I prosecuted this man and he’s a criminal,'” De La Cruz said. “However, in the community’s best interest, I hope Mr. Sarsfield is willing to move on.”
