As I've posted before, the EDCA has some of the worst rates of pretrial release in the Circuit, including an abominably low number of defendants summonsed in for their initial appearances (only 5 in FY2008). Exhibit 1 to illustrate the problem may be the FBI's recent arrest of a Cal Expo police officer on a misdemeanor charge of "stolen valor" and a felony count of making a false statement to FBI agents, as reported in the Sacramento Bee on Saturday.
A Cal Expo police officer was arrested by the FBI Friday on charges of falsely claiming he earned a Silver Star for gallantry in combat 18 years ago during Operation Desert Storm and then lying to FBI agents when confronted eight weeks ago.
Eric Gene Piotrowski, who is charged under the so-called Stolen Valor Act, made an initial appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd, who ordered him released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.
Piotrowski, 41, bought the medal and certificate via the Internet in 2007, and created a citation on a personal computer, according to a sworn FBI affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
The Marine veteran told family and friends he received the medal and certificate in the mail after requesting a copy of his military records, FBI Special Agent Mark Burgeson wrote in the affidavit.
Without his knowledge, Piotrowski's family arranged for California Department of Veterans Affairs Undersecretary Roger Brautigan to come to his Elk Grove home on an evening in 2007 and formally present the medal to him, according to the affidavit and JP Tremblay, deputy secretary of the department. . . .
But Piotrowski, after first insisting he was entitled to the Silver Star when he was interviewed by FBI agents on March 17, confessed in a second interview on March 20 that he was back in the United States when Desert Storm commenced and "did not encounter any hostile action," according to Burgeson's affidavit.
Let's put aside for the moment whether the feds should be spending valuable resources on prosecuting this guy whose humiliation among his family, friends, and peers will undoubtedly be far worst punishment than anything he receives in federal court. This case is a prime example of why our district's arrest and pretrial detention statistics have become some of the worst in the Circuit, if not the country. Was there really any need to arrest this Marine veteran and police officer instead of just issuing him a summons to appear in order to ensure his appearance in court before he is inevitably released on an unsecured bond?