District Attorney John Sarsfield plans to follow the money trail
to unmask members of the anonymous group Los Valientes, which he is
prosecuting for alleged civil rights violations.
Hollister – District Attorney John Sarsfield plans to follow the money trail to unmask members of the anonymous group Los Valientes, which he is prosecuting for alleged civil rights violations.
The money trail, which he believes stems from several well-known community members, will likely lead to the group’s attorney Mike Pekin, Sarsfield said. Sarsfield plans to ask people he suspects of being associated with the Los Valientes under oath if they are members of the group and also plans to ask the same of Pekin.
Two weeks ago, Sarsfield named several well-known community members he believes are associated with Los Valientes, including former Supervisor Richard Place and Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz. Both have denied the accusations are asking the county to foot the bill for their defense costs in the case. Sarsfield said he plans to make public evidence linking the two to the covert group in the coming months.
The district attorney also named several locals he believes to be associated with the group including businessman and 28th Assembly District candidate Ignacio Velazquez, Pekin and Hollister residents Vince Pryor, Dennis Madigan and David Grimsley.
“We believe (the Los Valientes) raised the money and transferred it to Pekin through investigators,” Sarsfield said. “And once the court rules that we can ask Pekin what happened under oath, it will only take a matter of days to track the money.”
Pekin doesn’t think he’ll ever have to answer questions about Los Valientes members because he believes their membership in an anonymous group is protected by the Constitution.
“I don’t think Mr. Sarsfield will get the information he is seeking,” Pekin said Monday. “The only choice he has is to force a judge to make me tell him, and I won’t do it.”
When asked what he would do if ordered by the courts to answer Sarsfield’s questions, Pekin said he “would cross that bridge” when he comes to it.
Sarsfield is suing Los Valientes for allegedly violating the civil rights of several elected officials and business owners by filing false lawsuits and threatening to expose their secrets through extortion. The Los Valientes are an anonymous group which has sued the county alleging wide-spread corruption. The case mostly focuses on former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti for allegedly using his position on the board to profit financially. The Los Valientes later dropped out of the suit and county resident Juan Monteon took the role of plaintiff.
Place, who is running for supervisor this year, denies being involved with the Los Valientes or giving Pekin to pursue the case.
“I never even met Mr. Pekin until 2005,” Place said Monday. “I never gave money to anyone.”
Sarsfield’s allegations that Place is the ringleader of the Los Valientes are based, in part, on the deposition of Dave Henderson, a private investigator who Pekin hired to look into allegations that became the basis of the Los Valientes lawsuit. Henderson’s deposition, which has sparked controversy regarding those thought to be involved with the Los Valientes, touches on dozens of subjects that range from allegations of corruption against Scagliotti to the poisoning of Sarsfield’s dogs in 2004.
During Henderson’s seven-hour deposition, the former investigator turned park ranger was repeatedly asked by prosecutor Nancy Battel to identify members of the Los Valientes, but he said he did not know who Pekin’s clients were, according to a transcript of the event. Henderson does, however, identify Place as being one of the “concerned businessmen” that he met with during the course of his investigation. Sarsfield believes the term “concerned businessmen” is just “another name for the Los Valientes,” based information obtained by the district attorney’s office.
Pekin, on the other hand, said that not every citizen concerned about corruption is a member of Los Valientes.
During the deposition, Henderson also details a $1,500 cash transaction involving Grimsley. Grimsley gave the money to Henderson, according to the transcript. But on Monday Grimsley denied ever giving money to Henderson.
“It wasn’t true. I never gave him money,” Grimsley said. “I’m not surprised about anything, though, everyone in this town has a vendetta against someone.”
Henderson also refers to the entire deposition as a “mockery.”
“I’ve been doing this business involved with law enforcement and legal investigations for a long time,” Henderson said during the deposition. “I have never ever been involved in such a circus or mockery or travesty of justice, nor have I ever seen anything like it.”
The next hearing in the Los Valientes case is scheduled for March 1 at 1:30pm in the San Benito County Courthouse regarding $1 million in damages Sarsfield requested from the group for civil rights violations and legal costs.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
