San Benito County is paying back nearly $400,000 to the federal
government because a consultant followed improper procedures under
a program that reimburses municipalities for prosecution of
criminal cases involving illegal immigrants. There were 103 of
those cases from late 2004 until the last quarter of 2007.
HOLLISTER
San Benito County is paying back nearly $400,000 to the federal government because a consultant followed improper procedures under a program that reimburses municipalities for prosecution of criminal cases involving illegal immigrants.
San Benito County also paid the consultant – Roseville-based Public Management Resources Inc., LLC, which another company recently purchased – more than $28,000 in commission from the cases for which the county received a reimbursement.
There were 103 of those cases from late 2004 until the last quarter of 2007, and county officials plan to seek those dollars from the firm’s parent company, said Joe Paul Gonzalez, the county clerk, auditor and recorder.
The board of supervisors this week, however, did agree to return the $398,000 it owes the U.S. Department of Justice and approved the item on Tuesday’s consent agenda.
Gonzalez explained how officials now realize San Benito County was ineligible for those reimbursements because the guidelines clearly state that the federal government must initiate the cases and then refer them to the involved jurisdictions.
It is meant to allow the federal government, often strapped for resources when it comes to immigration enforcement, to hand off prosecution of such matters.
“None of the cases (in San Benito County) were federally initiated,” Gonzalez said. “We would have never been eligible for that money.”
Gonzalez noted that county officials hired the consultant specifically for this program.
“The consultant was contracted to use expertise to select cases that qualify,” he said.
The improper reimbursements came to light recently when the DOJ conducted an audit and found that San Benito County had not followed the rules.
County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson also noted how the federal government’s audit in San Francisco, which she said used the same company, found a similar problem.
“I guess these things happen,” Thompson said. “We’ll do the best we can to recover our loss.”
Gonzalez said he “feels pretty confident” the county will receive the $28,458.
San Benito County, meanwhile, went these past four years without a benefit from the program, called the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative, aimed at states bordering Mexico.
When the Free Lance called the listed number for PRM, a recording said it no longer exists.
