Eastern District of California Blog

EDCA District Judge Edward J. Garcia To Retire At End Of Month

After 40 years of public service on the state and federal benches, EDCA District Judge Edward J. Garcia's retirement was officially announced at the EDCA Conference on Saturday.  The full piece on Judge Garcia in yesterday's Sacramento Bee is worth a read, but I like best this snippet about how the whims of fate can affect a career (which I've heard a number of times over the years):

Armed with his license to practice in 1959, he applied for a job at the public defender's office in Sacramento, but there were no vacancies. He was told, however, that the district attorney's office had an opening, and was asked if he would consider being a prosecutor.

"I said, 'I just want a job,' " Garcia remembered.

He went immediately downstairs, talked to District Attorney John Price and was hired on the spot. He rose to chief deputy, commanding the respect of the judiciary, the defense bar and his fellow prosecutors.

Chico Mortgage Broker Nets 46 Months After Jury Trial

A Chico mortgage broker was sentenced today in federal court in Sacramento to three years and 10 months in prison for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Kesha Danine Fortune Haynie, 41, was convicted by a jury in March of two counts of mail fraud in connection with the scheme. She was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia.

According to testimony presented at trial, Haynie operated Empire Mortgage in Chico. From April through December 2007, she originated fraudulent loan applications in connection with a cash-back-to-buyer mortgage fraud scheme, according to a federal Department
of Justice news release.

Sac Bee Blog, 9/14/12

70-Month Sentence For Construction Manager Convicted Of Fraud After Jury Trial

Thomas Tanke went to trial in Sacramento federal court and testified that he had done nothing wrong, but a jury found him guilty of stealing from his former employer and from his bank.

That was 7 1/2 months ago. At his sentencing Friday, the 68-year-old Tanke, who was once vice president of a Rancho Cordova construction company, told U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia, "I accept full responsibility."

Garcia has been around a long time. He's harder to fool than a polygraph machine.

* * *

Among the sentence enhancements Garcia imposed was one for perjury.

"The jury didn't believe him, and neither do I," the judge declared.

Garcia said he thought about a much stiffer sentence recommended by a probation officer, but instead ordered Tanke to prison for 5 years and 10 months – the low end of the guideline range –saying it was because of Tanke's poor health and age. He's been in jail since the verdict and will get credit for that time.

On Friday, Garcia ordered him to pay restitution of $136,518 to the trustee in the bankruptcy of the now-defunct Azteca Construction Inc., the company he looted. The judge also ordered Tanke to pay restitution of $105,882 to U.S. Bank, where he deposited checks stolen from Azteca and withdrew the funds for personal use.

* * *

Hansen's junior associate, Tatiana Filippova, who was admitted to the California Bar a month ago, made a game effort to argue mitigating circumstances, but Garcia was in no mood to listen.

 Sacramento Bee, 7/7/12

Chico Developer Anthony G. Symmes Sentenced to 35 Months

Anthony G. Symmes rose to the top of the heap in Butte County as a Chico-based developer, builder and civic leader, but he took a hard fall because he got mixed up with Garret Griffith Gililland III, for whom mortgage fraud was a way of life.

Straw buyers recruited by Gililland and his minions paid inflated prices for Symmes homes and acquired 100 percent financing with phony appraisals and bogus income documents ginned up by Gililland's crew. Symmes kicked back to Gililland or an associate the amount exceeding the true value of the homes. Gililland took care of the buyers.

Symmes, 61, was sentenced Friday in federal court to a month less than three years in prison on a guilty plea to conspiring to commit mail fraud and money laundering. He admitted engaging in a multimillion-dollar plot that picked the pocket of lenders for up to $7 million.

Sacramento Bee, 4/14/12

 

Sacramento Jury Convicts Former VP Of Construction Firm Of Fraud

The former vice president of a Rancho Cordova construction company was found guilty Tuesday in federal court of stealing more than $110,000 from the firm.

On the sixth day of trial, a jury of seven men and three women adjudged Thomas Tanke guilty on two counts of mail fraud and five counts of bank fraud. The panel deliberated 4½ hours over two days before returning its verdict early Tuesday afternoon.

The 67-year-old Tanke, once a resident of El Dorado Hills, claimed that at least part of the money was compensation in lieu of a higher salary, but the owner of Azteca Construction Inc., Rafael Martin, said that was not true.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Carlberg asked that Tanke, who has been on pretrial release, be jailed pending sentencing on March 2, based on "evidence of the defendant's perjury during the trial." U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia obliged.

Sacramento Bee, 11/23/11

Sacramento Court Sentences CPA To 235 Months For Embezzling $13.5 Million From Clients

Judge Garcia sentenced William Murray Friday to a top-of-the guidelines 235 months for embezzling $13.5 million from 52 clients.  Here's the 5/29/10 Sacramento Bee's recount of the sentencing: 

William Murray, the Sacramento accountant who stole at least $13.3 million from dozens of his clients, was sentenced Friday in federal court to nearly 20 years in prison – but not before some of the victims gave wrenching accounts of how they were callously bled of their life savings.

Every asset of Murray's that the Internal Revenue Service can locate was ordered seized. However, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia noted that the action "will not begin to make the victims whole."

Murray, who was a certified public accountant, must disclose all of his financial affairs, including bank records, to the victims.

During the dramatic 1 1/2-hour hearing in a packed courtroom, former clients called Murray "rotten," "a menace," a "sociopath" and a "snake." Most choked up as they spoke, and two had to ask Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Segal to read part of their statements.

Mandatory DNA Collection for Pretrial Releasees Now in the Ninth

The Federal Defender's appeal of Judge Garcia's order rejecting constitutional challenges to the law mandating DNA collection from defendants on pretrial release has now been scheduled for briefing and argument in the Ninth.  In U.S. v. Pool,  No. 09-10303, the opening brief is due October 5 and oral argument has been set for the week of December 7-11 in San Francisco.  Judge Garcia's order, EJG U.S. v. Pool Order 7-15-09, summarily adopted Judge Hollows's conclusion in rejecting the FD's challenges to mandatory DNA collection for pretrial releasees before conviction, see May 30, 2009 post and order.  According to Rachelle Barbour who is handling the FD's appeal, Judge Hollows agreed to continue to stay DNA collection pending her client's appeal to the Ninth, but that he intends to lift the stay for other similarly situated defendants unless they appeal too.  Others who want to contest the DNA collection order should continue to challenge any DNA collection condition in the magistrate court, appeal adverse orders to the respective district court judges (and the Ninth Circuit if necessary), and request stays pending appeal.  Call Rachelle if you want the briefing in Pool or to discuss consolidating an appeal with her Pool appeal in the Ninth.   

Postal Employee Gets Split Sentence For Opening Mail

Sacramento U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia sentenced a postal employee today to a split sentence of 5 months prison, 5 months home detention for opening mail.  San Jose Mercury News, 7/17/09