Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's Troubled History

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's Troubled History

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona has been indicted

COURT DOCUMENTS
• Carona indictment
• Jaramillo plea agreement
• Haidl plea agreement
For related stories go here: http://www.laghunajournal.com
They Got the Sheriff
World Wide "Prayer Vigil" for God's Justice, at the Arraignment of Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona November 5th, 2007
County supervisors will seek power to oust sheriff

Carona arrives at federal courthouse
PDF: The indictment document
 ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF AND HIGH RANKING ELECTED OFFICIALS UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE FEDS AND THE CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL
MEDIA ACCOUNT OF THE EXPANDING SHERIFF'S SCANDAL AND INVESTIGATIONS, THE PLAYERS, TIMElINE & ARCHIVES
Please, please don't judge Sheriff Carona by his friends
Rizzolo’s sheriff indicted
The Laguna Journal for many years wrote about Rick Rizzolo
Mike S Carona's History of Corruption since in Office
High-profile defense lawyer Cavallo is indicted
Joseph Cavallo criminal trial lawyer pleas guilty for bribing bondsmen for clients

NEWS ACCOUNTS & ARTICLES OF THE SAGA OF ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF
MICHAEL S. CARONA

Sheriff,wife & mistress pleads not guilty
 
Carona faces corruption, other federal charges. Wife, woman described as mistress in indictment also plead not guilty. A trial date of Dec. 18 is set for the Orange County sheriff, his wife and former mistress.
SLIDE SHOW
Sheriff Carona, wife, alleged mistress plead not guilty to corruption charges
Sheriff back in court today
SHERIFF MICHAEL CARONA & CO-CONSPIRATORS CHARGES AT A GLANCE
Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's Troubled History
Sheriff Michael S. Carona has been indicted on federal corruption charges according to high level US Federal Task Force who lead the lengthy Carona investigation as reported in the Journal some time ago!
Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona has been indicted
UPDATE (5:00 PM): Total Buzz just posted that Mike Schroeder is disputing an earlier report that Mike Carona will give up his day-to-day oversight of OCSD, which is something totally opposite of what Supervisor Bill Campbell claimed after his meeting with the embattled Sheriff this morning.
CNN’s Lou Dobbs will speak and have book signing on his new book

Hospitalized inmate dies
They Got the Sheriff
D.A. Rackauckas calls on Carona to take a leave of absence
Carona allegedly steered deputy's widow to co-conspirator
Sheriff turned down plea deal
Sheriff Mike Carona and his wife Debbie, both in handcuffs
Carona, Wife and Mistress leave the Orange County Federal Building.

Sheriff, wife, former 'mistress' ordered to pay bail; will be released later
Orange County sheriff, indicted on corruption charges, is ordered to surrender his passport. A federal magistrate sets bail at $20,000 each for the lawman and his wife, and $10,000 for his mistress. The three are scheduled to be arraigned Monday on federal charges.
Magnum Enforcer
Photos: We shot the sheriff
U.S. Customs officer shoots unarmed 19-year old Arab-American in head and face
Under Sheriff Jo Ann Galisky will take Temporary Command
Its reported that Under Sheriff Jo Ann Galisky will take command of the Sheriff's Department while her boss, Michael Carona, fight against his corruption charges in court. Carona will be available on important policy decision but the day-to-day operation will be on the shoulder of Jo Ann Galisky who has been with the department since 1984. The Journal is investigating this matter and will report according.
A message from Undersheriff Galisky
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1127694947/bclid1125901233/bctid1281316206
The Cavallo factor in the Carona case
Tony Rackauckas asks Orange County supervisors to pass a resolution requesting that the sheriff step aside as he fights corruption charges.
Carona's co-conspirators allegedly profited from dead officer's set

Sheriff Carona lied to supervisors about UK trip
November 1st, 2007 by sgreenhut
From Steven Greenhut:
At the Board of Supervisors meeting on March 20, Assistant Sheriff Steve Bishop asked the board to fund a trip with him, Sheriff Mike Carona and Assistant Sheriff Galisky to England to look at the British DNA forensic lab, among other stops. Various OC officials have visited that high-security government-run facility to gain help with regard to DNA issues in OC. Bishop promised that sheriff’s department officials would come back to the board and report on its findings.
On August 21, Supervisor John Moorlach said this to Sheriff Carona: “And then we approved the trip for you to go to London and you mentioned the UK and I believe that firm is the forensic science service that you visited?”
Carona: “Correct.”
Moorlach: “How was that trip? How was that?”
Carona: “It was a very enlightening trip one about what they are doing with DNA technology in the UK …”
The sheriff went on about DNA and the trip. The problem is the sheriff apparently never went to the DNA lab as part of his England trip. County official Rob Richardson last month asked the British lab to list the OC officials who have visited. Because everyone has to sign into the high-security facility, this list should be accurate. It lists five DA officials plus Dean Gialamas and Mario Mainero, but nothing about Carona, Galisky or Bishop. Moorlach told me Bishop admitted that three of them didn’t go to the DNA lab as part of this county-paid trip.
This seems to fit a pattern of behavior, doesn’t it?
Read more California, Local | 1 Comment »
Times to Carona: ‘Turn in the badge’
November 1st, 2007 by sgreenhut
From Steven Greenhut:
The Los Angeles Times published an excellent editorial today calling the Mike Carona administration a “train wreck from the start” and calling on him to resign. Wrote the Times: “The sheriff of Orange County showed his accustomed swagger when he swore to fight the serious charges against him rather than step down from office. Unfortunately, he also displayed his accustomed habit of putting his interests over those of his office. Sheriff Michael S. Carona has every right to take on his accusers. The man has been indicted, not convicted. But during his career as the county’s top law enforcer, Carona has been too much about politics and serving himself and too little about effective leadership and serving the public. He should never have been reelected, and he ought to resign. From the very start, according to the indictment handed down this week, the sheriff conspired to enrich himself and his mistress, trading access to his department for fat financial favors. If these accusations had come out of the blue, tarnishing an otherwise sterling sheriff, they would still form such a cloud over his department that he could scarcely carry on. But that’s not the kind of sheriff Carona is. Rather, he has been dragging his office through the mud for years, subjecting it and the residents of Orange County to his self-aggrandizement and consistently bad judgment.”
Our editorial today at the Register called for the sheriff to resign and argued: “Anyone who read the 29-page federal indictment naming Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona would not be surprised by his refusal to step down in face of serious criminal charges. The key thread linking the many scandals that have dogged the sheriff for years, as well as the charges detailed by federal prosecutors, is that Mr. Carona has routinely put his personal interests above the public’s interest. It would be hard to expect him to change that pattern now and step aside for the good of the public.”



Sheriff accused in kickback plot
Comments 15| Recommend 14
Sheriff's officials got portion of $340,000 meant for wife of deputy who died in 2001, indictment alleges. - 7:57 AM
Should Carona resign? You vote
Comments 30| Recommend 36
Online poll shows 83% of responses favor resignation
 
 
Pressure grows on indicted O.C. sheriff to step aside
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O.C. supervisors mull options, including asking Carona to name an interim sheriff.
By David Reyes and Garrett Therolf, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 2, 2007
Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's indictment on seven federal charges continued to reverberate Thursday through the county political establishment and statewide law enforcement community, and pressure built for him to step aside.

"I've got quite a few calls on it," said Chris Norby, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, "and they're running overwhelmingly that there needs to be a change there in the department and that we need to get behind this. I know he's innocent until proven guilty, but he needs to be held to a higher standard because he is an elected official."

Norby said he is mulling whether to support a proposal by Supervisor John Moorlach that would ask voters in February to give the board the ability to remove Carona.

"But there's a broader point here and it's a policy question," Norby said. "Should you empower the board with this power in this extreme situation? If this wasn't such an extreme situation with Carona, should the board be able to remove him?"

Norby said a competing proposal by Supervisor Bill Campbell would probably be presented to the board Tuesday that calls on the board to formally ask Carona to appoint an interim sheriff while he battles public corruption charges. The request would be nonbinding.

In the meantime, county employees were consumed by the news, gathering around computer terminals to scan the latest headlines and chatting near water coolers about where the indictment's allegations of conspiracy may lead.

Police chiefs and sheriff's officials in other counties openly worried that Carona's troubles may crystallize in the public's mind as another troublesome example of law enforcement corruption.

"Of course, you're presumed innocent at this point. But [the charges are] not to be taken lightly," said San Diego County Undersheriff William D. Gore. "The indictment of a sheriff is always shocking and never good for law enforcement."

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters said that police chiefs and sheriffs throughout the state rang his phone all day when the news broke this week.

"We want to do what we can to make sure there is an accurate reflection of leadership before the public," he said.

"A lot of the public doesn't distinguish between the sheriff, police departments and the federal authorities," Walters said. "If one is doing it, why should we trust the others? Particularly when you are dealing with immigrants from other countries where many of the authorities are corrupt."

Carona, meanwhile, returned to work Thursday -- one day after he appeared in handcuffs in federal court to face charges that he accepted bribes in exchange for favors.

His office refused to release his calendar or provide details of his official activities.

david.reyes [at] latimes.com

garrett.therolf [at] latimes.com

Times staff writer H.G. Reza contributed to this report.
 
 
 
Carona allegedly steered deputy's widow to co-conspirator
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Federal indictment against the Orange County sheriff alleges kickback from settlement.
By Paul Pringle and Christine Hanley, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 2, 2007
Six years ago, Brad Warner slipped into a coma after routine knee surgery for an old injury that the twice-decorated Orange County sheriff's deputy suffered subduing a suspect. Sheriff Michael S. Carona joined the family at the hospital in a vigil that ended with Warner's shocking death at age 46.

Even as Rosie Warner's husband lay dying, and as tearful colleagues gathered at the deputy's bedside, Carona urged her to hire Joseph Cavallo to file a malpractice lawsuit, according to people who were there.

Sheriff Carona
click to enlarge

Graphic
Players in the Carona indictment
click to enlarge

PDF
The indictment document
(Acrobat file)
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In handcuffs, Orange County sheriff faces judge
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Carona's status: What now?
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An unsettling portrait of 'America's Sheriff'
 
During the week of the funeral, he introduced Cavallo to her as "the sheriff's attorney," deputies who witnessed the encounter said.

Two deputies said Rosie Warner was disappointed with the $340,000 settlement that Cavallo eventually obtained. They said the widow, an immigrant from the Philippines who has since died of cancer, was "naive" about the U.S. legal system and had felt compelled to take Carona's advice.

"She asked me, 'Why is Cavallo pushing me to try to settle this thing? I think it's worth more,' " recalled one of the deputies, who requested anonymity because he feared retribution. "She was sick by then, and tired from the battle."

Now, a federal indictment suggests that Carona had a darker motivation -- money -- in offering comfort and advice to Warner's wife and two children.

The sheriff is accused of steering employees and their relatives to Cavallo. A portion of the $340,000, which some experts termed a relatively modest award, was funneled to Carona's alleged co-conspirators, the indictment said. They include Debra Hoffman, an attorney identified in court documents as his mistress. She has been indicted along with the sheriff and his wife, Deborah Carona.

The kickback allegation is one of dozens detailed in the case against Carona, but it has sounded a particularly loud note of outrage among those who wore the badge with Warner.

"There's just disgust," said a 20-year department veteran, who asked not to be named because he feared retaliation. "I can't imagine a cop making money off a dead cop. That's the lowest."

Prosecutors have not specified how the purported scheme came about, but sources with knowledge of the events told The Times that it was hammered out in a meeting at the sheriff's office. Attending were Carona, Hoffman, Cavallo and then-assistant sheriffs Donald Haidl and George Jaramillo, the sources said.

Under what the indictment labeled a "referral agreement," Carona and the others decided that Cavallo would kick back a share of any proceeds from cases the sheriff referred to him. The share was 25%, according to the sources. It was not immediately clear whether the percentage applied to Cavallo's share of a settlement, or the entire award.

The indictment unsealed Tuesday accused Carona of engaging in a broad conspiracy to sell access to his office for tens of thousands of dollars and gifts such as a boat, ladies' Cartier watches, World Series tickets and ringside seats to a Las Vegas boxing match.

Carona, once a rising Republican star who had been courted by former White House political strategist Karl Rove, is also charged with witness tampering. That allegation involves Haidl, who has turned against Carona and surreptitiously recorded at least one of their conversations for investigators. Haidl, an Orange County businessman, was the source of most of the illegal payments to Carona and Hoffman, the indictment said.

The sheriff and his wife have denied all of the allegations. Hoffman and her federal public defender have not commented. The defendants are free on bail and could not be reached for comment Thursday. Carona's attorney did not return a phone call.

Haidl, Jaramillo and Cavallo are named as co-conspirators in the indictment. All have pleaded guilty to unrelated crimes -- Cavallo for paying bail agents to send clients his way.

Before Warner became a deputy, he served 14 years in the Marines. He joined the Sheriff's Department in 1987 and spent much of his career patrolling the San Clemente area.

In 1995, he won the agency's Medal of Courage for protecting a colleague during a gunfight with a suspect.

He earned the Medal of Life the same year for aiding a heart attack victim in a restaurant.

It was around then that a suspect assaulted him during an arrest, injuring Warner's knee, friends said. He had previous surgeries before opting for a knee replacement at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange in May 2001.

The operation was on a Friday, and Warner died the following Monday.


Carona in Cuffs!
Posted by Rich Kane in Carona Watch 2007
October 31, 2007 6:40 PM
Permalink | Comments (10)
Sheriff Mike Carona, facing federal criminal corruption charges, turned himself in early this morning at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in downtown Santa Ana. Later in the afternoon, Carona, along with his wife Debbie and mistress Debra Hoffman, appeared in the courtroom of Judge Robert Block for a pre-arraignment hearing . . . aaahhh, you don’t wanna read that stuff.
And I don’t wanna write it, either. Seriously, you can find all that blah-blah somewhere else (excepting maybe the OC Register, still reeling from getting totally scooped by the LA Times when the Carona indictment story broke).
I’d rather scrawl about the odd gent in the highwater pants and football T-shirt—apparently a court regular—who chatted up a bailiff just outside Judge Robert Block’s courtroom. The bailiff seemed to know him:
“I’m here for the Carona case!” said the guy, excitedly. “I shook his hand this morning!”
“Did you wash it?” asked his bailiff buddy.
“No!”
So the coming Carona trial has its first groupie.
Speaking of groups, can the future ex-sheriff get any skeevier? It was really bizarre seeing the Carona Threesome sitting so close to one another in the courtroom: Mikey-Mike, looking dour and depressed, mostly, but occasionally chuckling when conferring with his attorney, Dean Steward. His blonded-out wife Debbie, seated just on the other side of Steward, was someone I had to feel for—never once did she so much glance at her hubby, instead frequently averting her eyes at the floor and turning her head at the door, as if she longed to get the holy fuck out of that room as fast as she could. And behind them both was Mistress Hoffman, her slicked-back blonde hair exposing a shock of dark roots (couldn’t tell if she had on her $1,500 St. John’s Knit suit, name-dropped in the indictment).
And why, through the whole proceeding, did I never see their hands? BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL EFFING HANDCUFFED!
Hot.
What else did we particularly enjoy? Well, there was Judge Block’s opening line, when he bellowed with Thor-like authority at Carona, “You are here as a criminal defendant charged with crimes against the United States,” which alone pretty much dooms his political career, even if he gets off.
We liked how Steward fought for Carona to be allowed to keep his gun, which US attorney Brett Sagel recommended Carona be forced to surrender. Steward won that round, arguing that Carona regularly receives threats on his life. (Note to Carona: Don’t be such a pussy. Back when I was the Weekly’s music editor, I regularly had bands threatening to bash my head in with a two-by-four.)
We liked the guy roaming around the sidewalk outside the courthouse who sarcastically bellowed at the assembled media, “Corrupt cops in Orange County?!? That’s not news!”
We liked how Carona and his wife left the building, holding hands (see, future jurors? He looooves his wife! No mistresses here!), then hopping inside a big-ass black Ford SUV with tinted windows, which had us wondering if this was the Carona’s own private vehicle, or something more, y’know, government/taxpayer owned (whatever it was, the plate number is 5WZN735).
We liked—okay, we laughed, snickered, guffawed—how Carona’s legal team described that the charges against him were “a bunch of baloney,” that the court is “overselling its case,” and that there was “absolutely no chance he’ll resign.” Who’s paying for Carona’s defense? That “hasn’t been worked out yet,” Steward said, but he assured that it wasn’t going to be the county.
We liked how hapless the media throng seemed to be, and resisted the temptation to don our SCOTT MOXLEY IS GOD T-shirts. After all—toot-toot!—Moxley and the Weekly have been after Carona literally since the day he took office in 1999. And we loooooved smugly watching everybody else play catch-up.
And hey, a big shout-out to Pete Weitzner, who sat just a Janine Kahn away from me. We’re sure Daybreak OC will be alllll over this story—about as much as they’ve already been!
The Carona Threesome—or Foursome, if you count the Little Sheriff—will be formally arraigned on Monday, Nov. 5.







MEDIA MOB: Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona gets into a car outside of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse Wednesday afternoon with his wife Debbie after their initial court appearance. They are scheduled to be arraigned Monday on federal charges.
STEVE ZYLIUS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
MORE PHOTOS
Video



OC in Two: Sheriff rejects allegations
Sheriff Carona and wife say indictment has no merit; Santiago fire 80% contained; Todd Marinovich busted again; luxury golf course opens friday
COURT DOCUMENTS
• Carona indictment
• Jaramillo plea agreement
• Haidl plea agreement
TALK ABOUT IT
• DISCUSSION: Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona, his wife Deborah Carona and a woman identified in federal documents as Carona's "longtime mistress," attorney Debra Hoffman, are named in a corruption indictment unsealed Tuesday.
The U.S. Attorney's office indictment accuses Carona and close associates of exploiting Carona’s position for personal benefit, including accepting cash and appointing to the position of assistant sheriff an unqualified businessman who paid bribes.
What do you think of elected officials who are indicted on corruption charges? Should they continue to serve until their names are cleared or they are convicted? Should they step down? What do you think of Sheriff Carona as a public official?
 
Discuss it here
BLOG
• TOTAL BUZZ BLOG: Peggy Lowe reports on the latest news in the Carona indictment
Related links
Sheriff Mike Carona indicted on corruption charges
Gov. calls Carona 'great public servant'
County supervisors may seek power to oust sheriff
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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Judge frees Carona on bail
O.C. sheriff ordered to post $20,000 bail, will be back in court Monday.
BY PEGGY LOWE
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Comments 65| Recommend 154
SANTA ANA – Sheriff Mike Carona, the county's top law enforcement officer, sat handcuffed in a federal courtroom Wednesday and answered "yes, sir" to a judge's question of whether he understood the public corruption charges he faces.
With his wife to his left and his former mistress sitting behind him, Carona held his head high and kept his jaw square as a federal judge ordered him to post $20,000 bond, give up his passport, undergo a mental health review and reappear for another hearing on Monday.
After surrendering in the early morning, Carona spent hours in a cell during a remarkable day of public disgrace for a man who is most comfortable being front, center and lauded as a tough lawman. Even as he won the right to carry his firearm, he was wearing a suit coat with no neck tie or belt, as all prisoners are stripped of any clothing that might be used as a weapon.
“He's angry. He didn't want to go through this,” said Dean Steward, Carona's lawyer. “You're correct, it was embarrassing to him.”
Carona, 52, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week for illegally using his elected office by taking bribes of cash and lavish gifts in exchange for favors. He allegedly accepted $350,000, a Cartier watch, lavish vacations and tickets to big sporting events. In return, he is alleged to have offered his well-heeled friends a concealed weapons permit, badges and, in one case, a “get out of jail free” card that gave the buddy free access to the department’s resources, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Carona's wife, Debbie, 56, seemed startled and stared back at the many people studying her. She spoke with a soft “yes, sir” to U.S. Judge Robert Block, who asked her to speak up, and her attorney had to place her glasses on her face because her hands were cuffed. She was also ordered to post $20,000 bond. She was ordered to surrender her passport, undergo a mental health review and to appear in court Monday.
Debra V. Hoffman, 41, identified in the federal indictment as Carona's “longtime mistress,” chewed gum and grimaced while consulting her lawyer, a public defender. Her husband, Robert Schroff, sat at the end of the second row, holding several copies of the day's newspapers that carried headlines about his wife. Hoffman was ordered to post $10,000 bond. Hoffman must also surrender her passport, undergo a mental health review and appear at an arraignment Monday.
Block refused a request by Brett Sagel, an assistant U.S. attorney, to force Carona to surrender his firearm. Carona can do his job without the weapon, Sagel said, but Steward countered that Carona's been threatened while in office and he needs the protection.
But Block sided with Sagel when the prosecutor asked the judge to order Carona and his wife against intimidating witnesses. Carona already faces two counts of witness tampering, Sagel said, and a number of witnesses told investigators that they were scared of the sheriff.
Debbie Carona's attorney, Dave Weichert, fought that condition and said the couple often attend political events and fundraisers and run into many of the people mentioned as part of the case.
“They are not to talk to them,” Block said. “That's just the way it is.”
After the brief hearing, attorneys for the Caronas blasted prosecutors for overzealously going after the sheriff and forcing the couple to wear what's called “belly chains,” which wind around defendants' waists and cuff their hands together.
“I think that it's appropriate that on Halloween, this witch hunt has commenced,” Weichert said.
Steward was furious that Sagel tried to take Carona's weapon, calling it “a bunch of baloney.”
“Quite frankly, the government's overselling its case once again,” Steward said.
Sagel wouldn't respond to the criticism and said only that the U.S. Marshals Service makes the decisions on security in the courtrooms.
While Hoffman sought the services of a public defender, the Caronas are paying for their own legal team. The county is not footing the bill, said Ben de Mayo, county counsel.
The trio face another court appearance on Monday when they will be arraigned and learn more about the charges against them.
Meanwhile, despite the many people calling for Carona's resignation, Steward said the sheriff will “absolutely not” resign and is determined to prove he is innocent.
“He is so anxious to fight these charges we have to hold him back," Steward said.
 
 
 
 
1. Once again, GREED breaks the spine of moral and ethical judgment.
Submitted by: Iz in Orange
4:58 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
2. “Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they’ve stolen.” He's gotta be a Republican.
Submitted by: Bill Dunn
4:49 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
3. He's innocent to me, until they can actually prove he done it, they should just bug off.
Submitted by: unknown
4:37 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
4. THE SMOKING GUN Count 7 of the indictment says Corona witness tampered in Aug of this year by asking Haidle to give false or misleading statements to the GJ. It says the conversation between Haidle and Corona was TAPE RECORDED. Ouch, that sounds like a smoking gun to me. Let's hear the tape!
Submitted by: John
4:22 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
5. This is a federal prosecution… and federal prosecutors have been know to streeeech the truth in several recent high profile trails. With Jaramillo and Haidl as the star witnesses and an Orange Country jury… put your money on Corona! This is, in your face politics at its best.
Submitted by: John S
4:19 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
6. Wow, shocking! Power and greed take over if gone unchecked for a long period of time. It will be hard to trust anyone with that type of position and with that much power.
Submitted by: Lisa
4:07 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
7. Reads like he has pissed of some pretty important people, who have gone to get length to ensure his downfall. I would expect the same level of coercion with all the elected officials in orange county. Money makes the political machine run, but has the same scrutiny been applied to others in office. Guess it depends on which political side is doing the investigating...
Submitted by: DAVE
4:01 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
8. golly, this is strange, they could have waited untill he made office and pull down the rest of the crooks too. i think we all know why he didnt make it that far. lets see, perhaps the crooks in office didnt want to share the pie. hmmm....
Submitted by: truckerdan57
4:00 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
9. I would suggest you all take a hard look at his other $$ connections with Point Center Financial, Inc. with Diane Harkey and her hubby Dan J Harkey then you will know why she and Dan spent so much $$ on her loosing senate run,, follow the Money it will led you to a Major nest of corruption far beyond the sheriff and his lady friends. I can assure you it is much deeper than the indictment show, S/A Atkinson is one of the Public Corruption Agents the Bureau has in the unit have her follow the money trail
Submitted by: Madison
3:53 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
10. I knew Mike many years ago and he was a trustworthy man of good character. I am so sorry to read of his problems. I hope they are not true.
Submitted by: 5th grade teacher
3:51 PM PDT, October 31, 2007
 
 
CARONA UNDER SCRUTINY
O.C. sheriff made donors his deputies
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Friends, relatives were also among the 86 who received badges, even though some lacked training. Carona says there was no public risk.
By Christine Hanley, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 26, 2005
Orange County sheriff -- An article in the May 26 Section A about the Orange County sheriff's reserve program identified Sam Campolito as a former Huntington Beach police officer. He was a civilian employee of the city's Police Department. --- END OF CORRECTION ---

By Christine Hanley, Times Staff Writer

Shortly after he took office, Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona and one of his top assistants deputized 86 friends, relatives, political contributors and others, giving them badges, powers of arrest and in some cases guns -- despite the fact that none had background investigations and some had not been fully trained.

Three years later, the state's Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training removed all 86 of the reserve deputies from California's peace officer database, which meant the commission no longer recognized them as peace officers. Even so, 56 still have their badges and identification cards, and 14 have concealed weapons permits.

A commission executive said he knows of no other case in which reserves have been removed from the database. The commission does not have the power to force a police agency to comply with its rules, but it can decertify a reserve program -- a step that would jeopardize the program's funding and credibility.

A Sheriff's Department audit, which is continuing, has determined that six of the volunteer deputies were performing police duties. Department officials ordered the six to stop performing police duties until background and training questions were resolved. The department had issued guns to four of the six, who have since returned the weapons.

In an e-mail responding to questions from The Times, Carona denied wrongdoing and said there was no public risk in allowing the reserve deputies to keep their badges. He said the appointments were not political favors, but acknowledged the group of reserve deputies included supporters, friends and family. Carona said he expected all of the reserve deputies to fulfill their duties.

"Like any organization, the first group of individuals we reach out to for support and assistance is friends and family of the members of the organization," Carona wrote.

Of the original 86 reserve deputies, 29 had contributed to Carona's inaugural election campaign in 1998 and his re-election campaign in 2002. Several others hosted fundraisers for him or the Mike Carona Foundation, a philanthropic group. The list includes physicians, lawyers, business owners and one of Orange County's top restaurateurs, who has hosted several Carona fundraisers.

Several of the reserve deputies had ties to former Assistant Sheriff Donald Haidl, who established the reserve program for Carona. Among them are Haidl's brother, sister, nephew and two other relatives. Haidl's private pilots, his personal secretary and other employees from his auction company also were deputized.

Carona enlisted the 86 volunteers in his reserve program in 1999, the year after he had been elected sheriff. He did so despite alarms raised by the state commission and a county attorney, who questioned whether the reserve deputies had been properly screened and trained.

The information for this article comes from hundreds of pages of documents obtained through public records requests and provided by other sources, and interviews with sheriff's officials and reserve officers, some of whom agreed to speak only on the condition that their names not be used.

Carona declined to be interviewed in person, but answered questions by e-mail. He did not respond to follow-up questions.

Documents indicate that the appointments were rushed to avoid tougher training requirements adopted by the state and that red flags -- including failed psychological exams and lying about a criminal history -- were overlooked during the application process.

Among the applicants were a former police officer who had been fired for lying during an internal affairs investigation, an executive who failed to disclose he'd twice been arrested and another who was identified as "psych reject."

Reserve deputies have been reported misusing badges and police credentials. In one case, a reserve officer hosting a Jordanian VIP flashed his badge to get a hotel employee in Anaheim to open rooms that were not under his name. Another reserve deputy became angry and announced he was an Orange County deputy when an Amtrak ticket taker asked him and his guests to move out of an area of a train reserved for business class passengers.

Sheriff's officials authorized to discuss the reserve program acknowledged this month that background checks for the reserves were not completed until last year -- five years after the appointments. Over the years, the original group of 86 shrank as some resigned or were demoted to a rank that carries no police powers. Efforts are continuing to get the remaining 56 reserves in good standing with the state, department officials said.

One of the reserve deputies, who asked not to be identified out of concern his appointment might be jeopardized, said a core group of reserves who helped Carona get elected were less interested in patrol duties than the privilege of having a badge and being part of his inner circle.

"It was clear from the beginning that there was an expectation that we would financially support Carona's political campaign and his foundation," he said. "It was known from Day 1 that there was no expectation to participate in police work."

Several other reserve officers, however, said they wanted to be involved in police work. John Swett, a 73-year-old retired anatomy professor, said he had helped at the coroner's office before leaving the program about two years ago. Sam Campolito, 65, a retired Huntington Beach police officer, was assigned to community programs and still works as a reserve.
O.C. sheriff made donors his deputies
May 26 2005
 
 
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"I joined the reserves because I enjoy doing police work," Campolito said.

Other reserve officers on the list declined to comment. After The Times made inquiries about the reserve program, the Sheriff's Department sent a divisionwide e-mail discouraging anyone from speaking with the media without authorization.

The dispute between Carona and the state over the reserve appointments is the latest of several controversies that have dogged the Sheriff's Department over the last year. Former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, a trusted ally of Carona's, was dismissed last year and is facing public corruption charges. Haidl left earlier this year to focus on his son's trial on rape charges.

The group of recruits is part of a much larger volunteer force of citizens that the Sheriff's Department -- like law enforcement agencies across the nation -- uses to supplement its rank and file. In one prominent Orange County case, for example, scores of reserve deputies combed parks after the discovery that someone had placed razor blades in places that could harm children.

In other cases, reserve deputies handle lesser police work, such as transporting prisoners or helping with crowd control. Some help with investigations and have the power to make arrests.

Haidl, a businessman who helped bankroll Carona's first campaign, created a new category of Orange County reserves after Carona's election in 1998. The program, known as the Professional Service Reserves, was designed to attract professionals -- doctors, lawyers, scientists, computer specialists and others willing to provide free expertise on topics ranging from improving budgets to fighting terrorism. People in that program have no police powers.

Many of the 86 reserve deputies who fell under scrutiny were initially brought in as Professional Service Reserves in 1999 and then later that year elevated to a status that allowed them limited police powers, including the right to carry a gun.

The promotion took place days before the state raised the number of hours of training reserve deputies were required to have, going from at least 64 hours to 162.

It is unclear how much training Orange County reserves received, though some did complete the academy program.

In a memo dated June 21, 1999, deputy county counsel Barbara L. Stocker warned of potential risks associated with making "conditional offers of employment" to reserves before the completion of background investigations or completion of training.

Stocker recommended that Sheriff's Department officials seek advice from the state's standards and training commission before moving ahead. On two occasions, commission representatives told department representatives that the background investigations must be complete before any reserve appointments, according to records. But department officials went ahead with the appointments.

In 2001, the commission found that background checks had still not been completed for any of the reserve deputies and that a majority had not completed the required coursework on arrest procedures and use of firearms.

In correspondence with the state, Carona defended the appointments and appealed the commission's decision to remove the reserves from the state's database. Carona relied on advice from former state GOP chair Michael Schroeder, an attorney who at the time was a sheriff's reserve deputy himself and a political advisor to Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas.

Schroeder, now the sheriff's political advisor, argued that the rules about background checks did not apply because reserves are volunteers, not employees of the department, and therefore not subject to "pre-employment" investigation. He also argued that background checks did not have to be complete before an appointment, but "before being assigned to duties."

The commission rejected those arguments, and executive director Kenneth O'Brien sent Carona a letter in August 2002 reminding him the reserve deputies were out of compliance and in violation of state law. He concluded that Carona had rushed the appointments to avoid stiffer training standards.

"Once it became clear to me that nothing short of waiving the background requirements (86 times) would satisfy you, I exercised my authority to remove the improperly entered names from the database," O'Brien wrote.

The internal audit began at the end of 2003, to review the reserve files with an eye toward identifying and correcting problems. The audit also is an attempt to resolve what the Sheriff's Department said were philosophical differences with the state on whether the appointments were appropriate.

In January, auditors suggested the reserve deputies either be ordered to attend a police academy or accept a demotion to a level at which they would have no police powers. In July, Carona and Schroeder are scheduled to meet with the commission in an effort to persuade them that the remaining 56 reserve officers are in compliance with state guidelines.

Descriptors: ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; POLICE RESERVES; CONFLICT OF INTEREST; CARONA, MICHAEL S
 
 
A Sheriff's Rising Star Is Dimmed by Scandal
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By Christine Hanley and Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 21, 2006
Two of his former aides are facing criminal prosecution. Federal agents have subpoenaed his financial and administrative records. State investigators are examining his conduct with women.

And he's the sheriff.

Scandals and controversies have clouded Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's public and private lives, dimming the prospects of a man whose political future once seemed unlimited.

Carona's official biography describes him as "America's sheriff," the handle CNN's Larry King gave him after the successful hunt for the killer of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, whose kidnap-murder captivated the nation.

The sheriff's camera-grabbing performance in the 2002 case made him an overnight sensation in Republican circles -- a would-be contender for lieutenant governor and rumored candidate for a Bush administration post.

He met with White House political strategist Karl Rove to plot career moves.

But as Carona prepares for what could be a tougher-than-expected reelection drive, America and higher office will have to wait.

"It's a matter of whether he can rehabilitate himself," said Republican political consultant Kevin Spillane, who had predicted big things for Carona in his post-Runnion glory days.

Rehabilitation would require Carona to overcome a siege of allegations and embarrassing disclosures. Many center on bribery and election-law charges against two sheriff's officials, and accusations that Carona sexually harassed two women.

Others have raised doubts about a life-shaping story he has often told of finding his mother dead from alcoholism.

And while Carona has not been charged with breaking the law, the turmoil around him has fueled criticism of his judgment, character and use of authority.

The sheriff declined to be interviewed for this story because he believes The Times has "fabricated" material about him in the past, said Michael Schroeder, his unpaid attorney and political advisor. Schroeder, a former chairman of the California Republican Party, said Carona has done nothing wrong, remains popular in Orange County and will be reelected.

Spillane and other analysts agree that Carona begins his bid for a third term as the favorite, in large part because of the county's low crime rate and the scant name recognition of his election opponents.

But Carona's challengers have been given plenty of ammunition, said John J. Pitney Jr., a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.

"Taken individually, these things aren't fatal," Pitney said, "but taken together, they could add up to real trouble."

In addition to the pending prosecution of an assistant sheriff and captain, and a state investigation into the sexual harassment allegations, The Times has learned that federal officials have subpoenaed records from Carona's reserve deputy program and election committee.

And America's sheriff may even have a Russian problem.

Photographs have surfaced of Carona cradling a young woman in his arms during a 2002 Moscow trip, and of her wearing the sheriff's uniform jacket in a hotel.

Schroeder said the woman was an official translator and the photos are innocent.

But the images, obtained by The Times, published in the OC Weekly and linked to an anti-Carona website, have not helped to restore his reputation, critics and others say.
A Sheriff's Rising Star Is Dimmed by Scandal
January 21 2006
 
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The married Carona has portrayed himself as a Christian conservative, saying his "personal relationship with Jesus" is the most important thing in his life, followed by his family.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," said Jim Moreno, Orange County regional director for the Democratic Party. "There's a thread that continues through each of these stories, and I think it's probably poor judgment."

Not so, said Shawn Steel, another former state Republican chairman. He said "there are no dark secrets" about the sheriff, and his standing with voters is solid.

"Mike is a very, very popular guy," Steel said.

*

Carona, 50, is charismatic and well-spoken, a balding, squarely built man who spends time in the gym and prefers his uniform to business suits. He is at his best when addressing a roomful of constituents, engaging them as both a tough-talking crime fighter and empathetic community-builder.

The sheriff has earned praise for launching one of the state's first Amber alert systems and for promoting treatment for jailed drug addicts.

Carona's original campaign resume showcased his brains, perhaps because he had no street-cop experience. The resume listed three college degrees, numerous education certificates, and his membership in Mensa, the organization of people with high IQs.

That was in 1998, when the Santa Monica native jumped from a largely invisible job as the county's appointed marshal to succeed longtime Sheriff Brad Gates, who retired. Carona won a second term in 2002 without opposition.

Today, considering his smarts, even some of Carona's early supporters are baffled at his missteps as head of California's second-largest Sheriff's Department.

Mario Rodriguez, a prominent Republican businessman who backed Carona in the last two elections, has shifted allegiances to one of the sheriff's opponents because of misgivings about the incumbent.

"I've just seen a disconnect with a lot of people who were involved in the first campaigns," said Rodriguez, who has endorsed Sheriff's Lt. William Hunt.

"All the scandals have hurt. "

Carona began his first term by persuading the Board of Supervisors to change a county rule requiring that assistant sheriffs serve first as captains in the department. That allowed him to appoint George Jaramillo and Don Haidl as his top assistants.

Jaramillo, a lawyer, had been a Garden Grove police lieutenant. Carona fired him in March 2004 and Jaramillo was later indicted. The former aide has pleaded not guilty to charges that he took bribes from a Newport Beach company, CHG Safety Technologies.

The firm was seeking to market a laser device to police agencies. Prosecutors allege that Jaramillo took $25,000 from the company as payment for using his position to promote the device.

In a separate case, CHG owner Charles H. Gabbard admitted to funneling thousands of dollars to Carona's 1998 campaign through an illegal stock swap, a matter the district attorney's office referred to the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

The panel would not comment on the status of its investigation.

The district attorney's office granted Gabbard immunity in the alleged bribery scheme to secure his testimony against Jaramillo.

Carona's other top assistant was Haidl, a wealthy businessman and Carona fund-raiser who came to the job with little law enforcement experience. He had been a volunteer reserve deputy in San Bernardino County. Three state agencies investigated him years earlier for allegedly skimming proceeds from government auto sales through his City of Industry auction firm
A Sheriff's Rising Star Is Dimmed by Scandal
January 21 2006
 
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Though denying the allegations, he paid $104,000 to settle a civil complaint.

He resigned as assistant sheriff in September 2004 because of the fallout over his son's arrest in a notorious sexual assault case. Gregory Haidl and two codefendants were convicted of attacking a highly intoxicated 16-year-old girl during a party at his father's Newport Beach home.

Don Haidl oversaw the expansion of Carona's reserve deputy program, creating a volunteer corps that critics say was designed as a fundraising tool for the sheriff's political campaigns.

Eighty-six of the reserves -- nearly all of them Carona's political allies -- got weapons permits, badges and, in some cases, guns in 1999, without the full training or background checks mandated by the state Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training.

Carona challenged the commission's decision to remove them from the state's database of peace officers. The dispute was finally settled last summer and, at last count, only eight of the 86 were interested in completing the training.

The sheriff had pressed ahead with the reserve appointments, and insisted there would be no risk to public safety, despite warnings by county lawyers of legal liabilities. But some of those reserves and others with ties to the sheriff were later accused of abusing their positions.

In August, a reserve who was Carona's martial arts instructor was arrested for allegedly waving his gun and badge at a group of golfers he thought was playing too slowly. Raymond K. Yi has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting a felony trial.

Another reserve, Freddie Glusman, who owns the upscale Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach, allegedly pulled his badge and threatened a coin-laundry proprietor in an argument over a parking space.

Glusman, who held a 50th birthday party fundraiser for Carona last spring, resigned after the Sheriff's Department began an investigation of the incident.

Federal investigators have subpoenaed documents from the reserve division, according to two law enforcement sources who asked not to be named because they are not allowed to talk about the probe.

Another source who requested anonymity said federal agents also have obtained records from Carona's campaign organization. This followed disclosures that the government subpoenaed documents from his charitable foundation.

The precise focus and status of the investigations could not be determined, and it was unclear whether they are related to Jaramillo's prosecution or have ventured into new areas.

One of Carona's confidantes, Sheriff's Capt. Christine Murray, was charged last year on 16 misdemeanor counts of soliciting campaign donations for the sheriff from department colleagues. State law prohibits government employees from asking co-workers for political contributions. Murray denies the charges.

In court papers, the state attorney general's office claimed that Schroeder tried to help Murray cover up her actions. Schroeder has denied the accusation. He has not been charged but has been called as a witness.

*

Some people who have worked with Carona or knew him before he became sheriff say many of his woes betrayed a lack of savvy in running a big-league department, as well as hubris.

They say the appointments of Jaramillo and Haidl and putting friends and political insiders on the reserve force smacked of arrogance and cronyism.

Just as revealing, they say, were Carona's since-abandoned proposal to emblazon his name on all sheriff's patrol cars, and his practice of traveling with an entourage of bodyguards. The four-deputy contingent referred to Carona by the code name "Braveheart."

Still, with the Jaramillo episode yet to come and problems with the reserve program playing out under the public radar, these were good years for the sheriff, culminating with his star turn in the Runnion case.

After the Stanton girl's murder, Carona took to the airwaves and told the killer not to eat, not to sleep, because sheriff's detectives were on his trail.
A Sheriff's Rising Star Is Dimmed by Scandal
January 21 2006
 
 
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The arrest of Alejandro Avila, who has since been convicted and sentenced to death, was swift.

In the heady aftermath, Carona spoke openly about seeking this year's Republican nomination for lieutenant governor amid speculation that the Bush administration might first tap him for a high-level post.

The celebrity brought by the Runnion case also invited a closer look into Carona's background. In 2003, The Times first reported the inconsistencies between Carona's story of his mother's death from alcoholism and the official record.

He said his mother drank a fifth of liquor and a six-pack of beer daily, and that he found her dead in her bed one morning when he was 11.

An autopsy report, however, stated that his mother died of cancer that began as a sinus tumor. It said she had no alcohol in her blood, and that Carona's father had discovered her body.

The sheriff's first wife and his stepmother say Carona never told them about his mother's alcoholism or finding her dead.

In a 2003 interview with The Times, Carona was largely taciturn about the conflicts in the accounts. "It was just ugly," he said of his mother's demise.

He had detailed his childhood ordeal in a 2000 book on drug and alcohol treatment, "Save My Son," which he co-wrote with Orange County author Maralys Wills, who continues to stand by the sheriff.

She said the pain of his upbringing might have altered Carona's memory of the circumstances of his mother's death.

"He was putting that behind him," said Wills, who described Carona as a "very decent individual."

Last summer, Erica Hill, who is Jaramillo's sister-in-law, told the grand jury she'd had sex with Carona. The panel called her as part of its investigation into the bribery charges against Jaramillo. Hill told The Times that Carona pressured her to have sex as a condition to the Sheriff's Department hiring her husband as a deputy.

She said their first tryst was during Carona's 1999 inaugural party, in a hotel room. Her husband was not hired.

Carona also appeared before the grand jury, but was not asked about Hill's allegations. He has since publicly denied Hill's claims.

In September, a Mission Viejo man filed a $15-million claim against the county, alleging that his former wife was sexually harassed by Carona.

Dean Holloway, who is now divorced and is on probation for grand theft, asserts that Carona called Susan Holloway in 2002 at the couple's Aliso Viejo home and asked her to spend the weekend with him in San Francisco. The Holloways were married at the time.

Schroeder said Susan Holloway, who is Jaramillo's cousin, later disavowed her statement. But Susan Holloway said she did so under duress, and stands by her ex-husband's account. Carona has denied the accusation.

Schroeder dismissed any notion that the totality of problems swirling around Carona might indicate that where there is so much smoke, fire must lurk.

Like other Carona supporters, he said the only crises to occur on the sheriff's watch were caused by a few people who went astray on their own.

Carona has handled those disappointments with aplomb, beginning with Jaramillo's firing, Schroeder said.

"When you have an organization with 4,200 people, you're going to have people who do some things that are inappropriate," he added. "You take care of it, and he has."
 
 
CARONA UNDER SCRUNTINY
The Odd Payoff of a Crime
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A Child's Murder Threw Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona Into the Spotlight. Now He Has His Sights on a Larger Political Playing Field.
By Scott Martelle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 6, 2003
The presentations are already underway by the time Mike Carona, wearing his signature green sheriff's uniform with four silver stars on each collar, strides through the restaurant and past the sign-in table. A young volunteer does a double take, then scoops a gold-ribboned name tag from the table and catches up with Carona just before he reaches the meeting room. They speak quietly and flash smiles as she presses the name tag into his hand. When she walks back to her post, Carona glances at the tag, then rolls the ribbon around the card and slips it into his pants pocket. No need for an ID in this crowd.

Carona, a compact man with a vaguely military bearing, hovers at the back of the room, trying not to disrupt. Heads turn anyway. Another young woman appears and escorts him out of one side door and back in another to a table near the lectern, where the publisher of OC Metro, a local business magazine, is talking about how great it is to live and work in Orange County. Everyone in this Costa Mesa restaurant seems to agree. The event feels like a Rotary Club meeting-turned-fund-raiser, where women in fashionable black order wine by the color and tanned men in dark power suits hold bottles of light beer. The publisher finishes his spiel; two editors prepare to announce OC Metro's "Hottest 25," the biggest movers and shakers in this well-heeled corner of the world. They call each of the honorees' names and present them with plaques and handshakes as the audience claps respectfully.

Then comes Carona.

As he is introduced--"Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona"--the 48-year-old Santa Monica native bounds from his table, most of the audience rising with him. Energy charges the room as Little League suddenly becomes the Majors, and the star pitcher is on the mound. Carona accepts the plaque and handshake, and faces the cheering crowd, self-consciously bobbing his balding head as he waves, his face locked in an open-mouthed smile. Then he swims back through the electrifying din to his table, a bit sheepish, not uncomfortable but not at ease either, an aw-shucks deer in the headlights.

This is the odd payoff of murder. Last summer, Carona became the national face of intrepid police work when he took to the airwaves to denounce the killing of Samantha Runnion, a 5-year-old girl who was kidnapped as she played with a friend outside her family's condominium in Stanton, a small working-class city of an estimated 38,000 people squeezed in south of the Santa Ana Freeway between Garden Grove and Anaheim. In press conferences, Carona promised the unknown killer that he and his deputies would not rest until they had run him to ground. It was a bravura performance, Carona slipping between the sometimes conflicting roles of detached law enforcement professional and emotional Everyman, never shorting either. The police would get their man, he vowed. A little girl's death would be avenged.

The public promises were a roll of the dice. What if the crime wasn't solved? What if no arrests were made? But within days, police identified Alejandro Avila, 28, of Lake Elsinore as their man. Prosecutors say DNA evidence, credit card and cell phone records, tire tracks and footprints point to Avila, who awaits trial on murder, kidnapping and other charges.

Law and order has always played well in Orange County, where the local airport carries John Wayne's name and the guiding political ethos is that of the laissez-faire entrepreneur. Carona plays well here, too, coming across as a mix of common-sense administrator and tireless cop. It also helps that he touts his "personal relationship with Jesus," and has said his faith is the most important thing in his life, followed by his family and the Sheriff's Department--priorities that are noticed in this church-heavy county. But his role in solving the Runnion case shifted the rookie sheriff's profile several notches upward, from local figure to home-grown national hero. And everybody wants to be close to a hero.

As the last plaque is handed out, the emcee thanks the crowd for coming. Most drift back to the bar, but 30 or so people fall into a receiving line, some angling for a handshake and a word in the sheriff's ear, while others pass cameras to spouses or friends for a snapshot with the star. Carona graciously accepts every request, allowing the room to work him instead of the other way around. Small talk dominates--about Runnion and mutual acquaintances--until someone finally breaks the ice and the past yields to the future.

"When you run for governor," one admirer says, clasping Carona's hand, "you let me know."

Not governor, Carona says later. That's aiming too high, too soon. But he is clearly ambitious--an attribute apparent as far back as high school, when his then-stepmother recalls that "he just wanted to be somebody big, big, big." So for now, Carona bides his time by collecting supporters, burnishing his image as the cop who publicly went after a child killer. He may even be learning the power of myth making--as the kid who overcomes his own family tragedy and rises to the top.

lthough he can't define when his ambitions first gelled, Carona says he has always been driven to be the best at whatever he was doing. He went out for high school football and, despite his relatively small size, became an integral part of the team. He joined the wrestling team and was made captain. Raised in a household that did not emphasize academics, he finished near the top of his class. "There is no doubt I was ambitious," Carona says. "I just know I wanted to make more than minimum wage, and wanted to have a college degree."

Carona's interest in politics stems from his early days in the Orange County Marshal's Department, when he worked on the campaigns of friends who were running for office. For now he couches his political motivations in platitudes--"I like that concept of getting things done"--while he mulls his next move.

He flirted for a time with running for Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate seat in 2005, but that idea fizzled. Fame fuels politics in our celebrity culture, and name recognition is everything. Larry King might have dubbed Carona "America's sheriff," but he's still largely unknown outside of Orange and Los Angeles counties. And two years isn't enough time to build the kind of statewide political organization it would take to win.

So a race for lieutenant governor in 2006 is more likely, according to Carona and his advisors, though if the burgeoning recall drive against Democratic Gov. Gray Davis is successful, Carona might be forced to decide his next move sooner. The sheriff worked last fall with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger on the passage of Proposition 49, a statewide funding plan for after-school programs. If the Austrian-born actor runs for governor, maybe the sheriff will team up with him--a conservative dream team of the action hero and the cop. But it's too soon to say, too soon to commit--though not too soon to plan. Just having the conversations is heady stuff. Trips to the White House. Private sessions with Karl Rove, President Bush's political strategist, and other advisors.

"It's humbling," Carona says. "These are guys you read about in the newspaper, and suddenly you're having one-on-one conversations with them. You realize this is more than just sitting around with people over a beer and wondering if you have a future at [politics]. These people do it for a living."

Another wild card in the deck: rumblings that the Bush administration might be considering Carona for a national post. For now, Carona says, he intends to keep doing his job and working to help Bush get reelected in 2004. "For the rest of it, we'll just wait and see what happens," Carona says.

About the only decision Carona has made is that he won't seek reelection as Orange County sheriff in 2006, fulfilling a 1998 campaign pledge that he would limit himself to two terms. The promise carries an asterisk, though. While he wouldn't be the first elected official to break such a promise, Carona says he won't run again unless a transition would imperil the department--a situation he sees arising only if there's another large-scale terrorist attack or similar critical event in which the public's interest would be served by stability. He loves the work, he says, but it's dangerous for one man to keep the job for too long. He doesn't mention his predecessor by name, but the shadow of Brad Gates, whose autocratic rule over the Orange County Sheriff's Department lasted nearly a quarter-century, lurks in the corners.

"This office, there's so much power given to whoever holds it," Carona says. "It needs to turn over so you don't feel like you own the place. It's healthy to have