A former California Highway Patrol officer who initially was accused, along with another man, of felony embezzlement and auto parts thefts from late 2016 to mid-2018, has been ordered to serve 90 days in Solano County Jail, The Reporter has learned.
Solano County Superior Court records showed Todd Curtis Smith, 50, who waived his rights during a June 21 court appearance and pleaded to one count of grand theft, was sentenced Monday morning in Department 1 in the Justice Center in Fairfield. He was represented by Vallejo-based criminal defense attorney Daniel J. Russo.
A county Probation Department report recommended that the sentence be suspended and Smith be given two years probation, but court documents clearly mentioned the 90-day sentence, which requires Smith to report by 9 a.m. Nov. 21 to begin serving the time.
Judge Jeffrey C. Kauffman also ordered a case progress review and scheduled it for Nov. 14 but Smith does not have to appear for the proceeding.
In addition, Kauffman ordered Smith to pay $600 in fines and have “no knowing contact” with two other men linked to the case: Nicholas Ryan Bonachea and Thomas Carpenter.
Bonachea, 41, a former CHP auto technician, is scheduled for a readiness conference and trial setting at 9 a.m. Aug. 24 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
The latest developments date followed a two-day preliminary hearing and a held-to-answer arraignment on May 4 last year.
Court records indicate that Smith was arrested Nov. 30, 2018, by a fellow officer at the CHP Golden Gate Division offices on Benicia Road in Vallejo. Shortly after being booked into Solano County Jail, he posted $35,000 bail on the charge, felony embezzlement/grand theft exceeding $950.
Bonachea was arrested the same day on suspicion of felony embezzlement exceeding $950. After being booked into jail, he posted a $35,000 bond on Dec. 4.
A third suspect in the case, Thomas Jerome Carpenter, 52, also was arrested on Nov. 30 on charges of receiving stolen property, auto parts, among other things. After being booked into jail, he also posted a $35,000 bond on Dec. 4.
The three were arraigned on the charges Dec. 31 in Department 17 in the Hall of Justice in Fairfield. Each pleaded not guilty.
In the ensuing months, however, Carpenter, charged with two counts of receiving stolen property, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Aug. 17 last year. However, publicly available court records do not indicate exactly what punishment Kauffman imposed. Before he pleaded, he faced the possibility of a maximum of five years in prison, plus fines.
Carpenter, also an auto mechanic, was originally charged with receiving stolen property exceeding $950 (auto parts, a hand controller, and a CHP medical bag), and his probation term was transferred to his current county of residence, which, according to court records, is Butte County.
A search of court records showed that the case against him was closed on Nov. 30, 2020, and there was no other information in the court’s document management system.
At the outset of the first day of the preliminary hearing, April 19, Deputy District Attorney William J. Moser, who led the prosecution at the time, called CHP Detective James Hampton to the witness stand.
Hampton indicated that, at one point, he obtained a search warrant for Carpenter’s home in Pacheco, where investigators found what was described as a “hand-held control device” and a “touchscreen device.”
During the home’s search, Carpenter arrived and told investigators that he received “some items” from Bonachea and admitted, according to Hampton, that he was not authorized to have the items, that they were stolen and worth $2,000. Investigators also found auto parts belonging to the CHP in Carpenter’s garage.
Hampton noted that Bonachea had worked for the CHP at the Car Care Center in Vallejo since 2015. He also testified that the car parts, including brand-new rims and tires meant for CHP vehicles, were used on personal vehicles belonging to Carpenter, Bonachea and Smith.
Additionally, Hampton said, the three men used CHP vehicle parts “to save money” while working on an “auto-flipping” business.
On cross-examination, Russo peppered Hampton with questions about how he determined the vehicles had stolen parts. Hampton said they were labeled as CHP property, either on a box or with some sort of sticker or marking directly on the part.
Fairfield criminal defense attorney Vincent Maher, who represented Bonachea at the time, got Hampton to admit under cross-examination that tires and rims, brake pads “don’t have CHP stamps” or other identifiers on them.
Smith, had he been convicted at trial, faced up to three years in jail.
If convicted at trial, Bonachea also faces the possibility of a maximum three-year term behind bars, plus fines.
In a complaint filed on Nov. 30, 2018, by the Solano County District Attorney, prosecutors say Smith and Bonachea committed the alleged crimes between Dec. 6, 2016, and June 13, 2018.
Items listed stolen include a computer touchscreen, reflective rain jackets with CHP patches, CHP decals, and a CHP cruiser exterior public address system.
Source: www.mercurynews.com