'I Lit the Fire': Jared Petrovich claims he was just following orders when his words sparked a fatal jailhouse beating; April 3, 2008, By Nick Schou

An Open Letter to DA Tony Rackauckas Regarding the Jailhouse Murder of John Chamberlain; March 13, 2008, By Nick Schou

Tased and Not Confused: To lawyer in OC jailhouse-tasing incident, missing footage is no shocker; May 10, 2007, By Nick Schou

Thanks for the Work! An open letter to District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Sheriff Mike Carona, and the police chiefs and mayors of every Orange County city except Laguna Niguel; April 4, 2007, By Nick Schou

Blind Spot: For OC jail inmate John Chamberlain, jailhouse justice served as judge, jury—and executioner; March 29, 2007, By Nick Schou

The Trials of Billy Joe, White Supremacist: Gang leader and murder suspect says he was brutalized by jail deputies; February 16, 2006, By R. Scott Moxley

Carona Makeover: Another day, another jail beating in OC; October 6, 2005, By R. Scott Moxley

Justice Takes a Beating: OC court greenlights torture in local jails; August 11, 2005, By R. Scott Moxley

If ever a man looked like a sheriff, it’s Jack Anderson. The mustachioed man is tall and husky and, if he wore a cowboy hat, would cast an impressive shadow sitting on a horse.

Of course, the wild—ridiculously wild—west days at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) should be over. Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona and his evil sidekicks Jo Ann Galisky and Steven Bishop have found their rightful places in society. Carona teeters on the brink of prison if convicted later this year in a bribery/obstruction of justice scheme. Fired or forced out of their assistant sheriff jobs, Galisky and Bishop nowadays can soil only their plain clothes.

Sitting atop the OCSD is acting Sheriff Jack Anderson, a 47-year-old Illinois native who begs reporters not to tie him to . . . (in a Monday interview, he made a dismissive sweeping motion with his right hand, and then said) . . . “the previous sheriff and all of his problems.”

Anderson doesn’t have to be particularly wise to appreciate that Carona and his former inner circle at the department are politically radioactive. And yet—like Galisky, Bishop and ex-assistant sheriffs turned felons George Jaramillo and Don Haidl—Anderson can’t deny the truth: Carona put the stars on his uniform and welcomed him into an arrogant OCSD inner sanctum that prized deceit above all else.

But Jack doesn’t want to be in the Carona box. “I’m not part of all that,” he told me. “That’s the past. It’s unfair to tie me to it. I think I can take this department back to what it should be—a place where people are proud to work and the public can trust.”

What influence does Carona have today? I asked.

“None,” said Anderson. “That’s the way it should be. He is history.”

As evidence, he pointed to a wall near the sheriff’s inner office that once held photographs of a smiling Carona embracing Hollywood celebrities and fellow politicians. “It was all about him, you know?” said Anderson.

He replaced the photographs with a motto etched into the wall: “The men and women of the sheriff’s department are its heart and the institution is greater than any individual.”

Is Anderson merely telling outsiders what he thinks they want to hear? Skeptics say yes. They insist that the department needs a thorough break from Carona and his assistants. And they are none too keen on what they see as behind-the-scenes ties between Anderson and Carona adviser Mike Schroeder.

“Jack is a nice guy, but he’s not the independent leader we need,” said Bill Hunt, the high-ranking deputy whom a pre-indicted Carona fired because he’d challenged him in the 2006 elections. “Jack’s baggage is Carona and Schroeder. They wrecked the department. We’ve got to get beyond these people.”

Hunt, who scored the recent endorsement of the deputies’ union, is one of nearly two dozen applicants hoping to be selected June 3 by the county’s Board of Supervisors. The prize? Head California’s second largest sheriff’s department. Other local candidates include Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Commander Ralph Martin, Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters and Craig Hunter, deputy chief of police in Anaheim.

From Schroeder's perspective, one candidate has zero chance of winning.

"Hunt claims that he is the corruption fighter but ignores the two 800-pound elephants in the room," Schroeder told the Weekly. "The first elephant is that the Attorney General determined that Hunt engaged in a cover-up relating to Don Haidl and George Jaramillo, including the altering of official reports. Mr. Hunt also claims that Anderson is tainted because he was promoted by Carona. This brings us to the second elephant in the room: Hunt was also promoted to all of his management positions by the former sheriff. Hunt may think he is a strong candidate, but with these elephants on his back, no one outside his inner circle seriously regards him as such."

Based on numerous interviews, it appears that Hunt's support is largely from the public. No surprise there. Hunt is the man who finished second against Carona in the last election. But views among members of the Board of Supervisors apparently differ. Depending on who you talk to, the top three local candidates appear to be Walters, Anderson and Martin.

A move by Supervisor Janet Nguyen to conduct a national interview process has had the effect of giving Anderson--once a dark horse, at best--a chance. He's effectively the incumbent now. On a daily basis, he's able to enhance his public image by speaking at crime scenes and issuing reforms. Perhaps more important, he’s got a powerful fan.

In May 2006, OC Weekly broke the news that then-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona had allowed fellow con man Joseph M. Medawar to film the county's top secret anti-terrorism training procedures three years earlier. (See "Department of Homeland Stupidity.") A native of Lebanon, Medawar used the footage and personal endorsements from Carona and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Skipped Vietnam combat duty, pictured), to bilk more than $5.5 million from unsuspecting Republicans and religious conservatives. Medawar claimed the money would fund a new television series called DHS, but the FBI discovered the cash had been diverted to personal use including a $40,000-a-month Beverly Hills mansion. (Rohrabacher grabbed $23,000 of the loot under the pretense that Medawar, 46, paid him for a decades old, worthless script.) Since then, Carona's been indicted in a separate bribery scam, Rohrabacher continues babbling about whatever and Medawar's gone to prison. But last week, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the con man's punishment. Federal sentencing guidelines called for Medawar to get 57 to 71 months in prison. Los Angeles-based U.S. Judge Manuel L. Real, an LBJ appointee of dubious ethics and temperament, had ignored the cries of 50 victims and—without explanation—given Medawar a light 366-day sentence. The appellate justices told Real to try again.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

The county is still abuzz about the failed jewelry heist at the Shops at Mission Viejo that left an idiot in a bad wig dead and the Orange County Sheriff Department investigating its own since two deputies shot the guy. Given that Kirk Christian Knight (just one letter removed from KKK!) fired at the deputies, this latest death under OCSD watch is much more justified than, say, the John Chamberlain affair. But what's been the strangest development so far is the visibility of acting sheriff Jack Anderson. The Caronie (h/t to Steve Greenhut) is openly jonesing to permanently assume leadership over the fifth-largest sheriff's department in the U.S.A. by embarking on moves that are good but still tainted because, hey: Anderson's a Caronie. And to let the county know who he is, he addressed news cameras on Sunday instead of usual sheriff spinner Jim Amormino, and gave an in-depth interview to the Orange County Register yesterday, continuing his predecessor's proud tradition of hogging the spotlight when the men in green come out looking like the heroes they're supposed to be. And when not? We shall see...

Over at the Orange County Register, ace reporter Peggy Lowe writes tonight on Orange County Sheriff's Department blog news that two of indicted ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's Yes Folks (YF) quit today: assistant sheriffs Jo Ann Galisky and Steve Bishop.

Somehow the third and final major YFer embarrassment, Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson, remains . . . sitting atop the massive police agency, repeatedly uttering four words: "I am the sheriff' and waiting, nervously, for guidance from Carona/GOP operative Mike Schroeder.

Can the public and the honest people at OCSD ever get decent leadership? I ask this to you, Janet Nguyen.

Today's developments prefaced an upcoming unflattering grand jury report on the brutal killing of a man in pre-trial custody in October 2006. The Carona-Galisky-Bishop lie, oops, line was that a deputy standing feet away from the lethal beating (that lasted, perhaps, 20 minutes) suffers from severe ADD. They proposed that he remained clueless to the gory killing because, drum roll, he was too busy watching TV.

According to the new public employee union contract, jail deputies are required to work only during regularly scheduled TV commercials and not at all during sporting events or the airing of porno.

There's good news though. Galisky--who recently hired a criminal defense lawyer (no, really!)--won't join the unemployment line. She's announced that she will head a new private detective firm with Carona and Bishop: Blatant Liar, Screw Em & Duh, LLP.

They'll specialize in sexual harassment, illegal eavesdropping, misuse of public property and unnecessary government employee travel abroad cases. Galisky's focus? Evidence elimination and grand jury preparation tactics.

The ultra-trustworthy Full Disclosure Network reports that other notables are set to participate in the firm too. Don Haidl will supply employee perks--free boats, cash and Bible-based pep talks, but only if he gets to wear a Blatant Liar, Screw Em & Duh badge. Thanks to a grant from a mysterious individual with mysterious interests, Brian Sun and something like nine other Jones Day lawyers will work as, uhhh, "free" employees. Incarcerated Las Vegas titty bar owner Rick Rizzolo and ex-federal prosecutor Wayne Gross, a Carona apologist, have already signed on as clients. Meanwhile, Reg columnist Frank Mickadeit--who lives with Gross!?!?!--is waiting for final instructions from Schroeder before he writes a flattering column on Galisky's new business.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

Ladies and gents, Carona's "Little Sheriff" is no more. You voted, and rechristened the indicted top cop's more active head The Little Debbie Snack.

All hail OC Weekly's fabulous proofreader Jack Grimshaw for his creativity and ability to rip off McKee Foods.

Jack, you win. . .The Little Debbie Snack, congratulations. We're not sure where your prize is at the moment, but we're sure it's up to no good. Or possibly: coming soon to a Debbie near you.

Thanks for all the nominations in our open call to rename the Little Sheriff. Now, you get to vote on one of our ten favorites! So reach out and touch your choice, and the poor little guy will remain nameless no longer.

This past Wednesday, the stage was set for an ultimate face-off: Our own R. Scott Moxley, the finest reporter in these here parts, and Register reporter Tony Saavedra, both staring down Mike Schroeder, local GOP king-maker (former Sheriff-maker, soon-to-be felon-maker), in front of the assembled members of the Orange County Press Club. Some of you may have seen signs advertising the event - "There Will Be Blood."

Sadly, 'twas a far, far better thing Moxley had to do, but of course a gentleman Weekling never leaves a potential source stranded at the altar; his editors past and present, Will Swaim and Ted Kissell respectively, did what they could to fill Moxley's shoes. One shoe each.

In what amounts to something between a joking admission and a brushing-off of the Register's shoulder, Frank Mickadeit reviewed the event, focusing on the discussion of whether the media was too slow to report on former OC Sheriff Mike Carona's more obvious criminal activity.

We did not publish some of the stuff the Weekly did about his ties, real or imagined, with mobsters, or rumors of his affairs. In some cases we simply didn't have the goods the Weekly did. In some cases editors felt the stuff didn't meet our sourcing standards or simply wasn't relevant. As Saavedra said in response to a question by former Times and Register reporter Jean Pasco, "I don't let George (Jaramillo) run the coverage."

Frankie Mick's conclusion? "[A]ll the papers could have done more and better, but in their messy, unscientific, unscripted way, all contributed." That's right, Frank. The Weekly contributed by publicizing every last detail we could verify about a clearly corrupt yet enormously powerful public official. The Register contributed by pretty much ignoring the situation until it became professionally embarrassing to do so.

Sounds like 'messy, unscientific and unscripted' wins the day! But all the stories are online, with wonderful little date-stamps on them, so y'all can judge for yourselves.

Wednesday night's meeting of the Orange County Press Club at Jason's in Santa Ana, which featured a panel discussion of ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's indictment and the media's role in chronicling his messy reign as the county's top cop, was a hoot and a half. One highlight was my predecessor, Will Swaim, and the Reg's Frank Mickadeit doing a dramatic reading of the FBI tape transcripts of Carona's Aug. 13 conversation with buddy-turned-informant Don Haidl about all that "untraceable" money Haidl is alleged to have sent the sheriff's way.

Even better: Watching Republican kingmaker and Carona adviser Mike Schroeder coolly navigate wave upon wave of Liberal Media Elite scorn and schadenfreude by offering glimpses of the ex-sheriff's defense strategy: Haidl and George Jaramillo are a couple of lying scumbags, the U.S. attorney in charge of the case is overreaching and grandstanding, lather, rinse, repeat.

(Mike Schroeder: Disarmingly evil, or evilly disarming? Discuss!)

But lost in all this back-and-forth was perhaps the greatest tragedy of the entire Carona saga. Whether or not he is ultimately found guilty of the charges against him, he faces a far more daunting challenge:

The guy is going to have to rename his cock.

The Associated Press reports that the Feds filed a partial transcript in court today with snippets of a wiretapped conversation between former OC Sheriff Mike Carona former assistant sheriff Don Haidl:

In the partial transcript, Haidl and Carona discuss cash and gifts Carona received from Haidl and what they would do if other witnesses testified about them to the grand jury.

They also talked about whether George Jaramillo, another assistant sheriff, witnessed Haidl giving cash to Carona in July 2002, when Haidl's son was arrested, and whether federal prosecutors would be able to trace the money, according to the court documents.

"I don't give a (expletive) if George was in the room, whatever we did, as long as our stories are straight, I'm okay, as long as I know there's no trail anywhere," Haidl told Carona, according to the transcript.

Carona replied, "No trail anywhere," the transcript said.

When Haidl needed further assurance, Carona added, "Period. Period. In fact, not even close to being a trail."

When Carona worried that Jaramillo would testify to the grand jury about Haidl's alleged gifts to Carona, the former sheriff said: "The answer is .... (it) didn't happen. It didn't happen. ... Well, here's the beauty on this one Don, they're not going to get to play both sides against the middle on this," according to the transcript.

Read the whole thing here, and do download a PDF of the transcript.

Last year, I sat in a booth at Original Mike's in Santa Ana and listened to Assistant Sheriff Jo Ann Galisky explain--quite logically, in her mind--that jail deputies in Orange County have never used excessive force because jail deputies always behave. Why? Because, Galisky assured me, deputies are the good guys, and folks in custody are bad guys. The expression on her face revealed a frustration that I didn't buy from her cookie-cutter position. After all, I'd seen gory pictures of what groups of deputies had done to handcuffed inmates: punctured eyeballs, crushed testicles, shattered wrists and cracked skulls. Besides, my sources--including honest, emotionally mature guards--provided me information about how a few of their colleagues routinely craved violence. Galisky and I agreed to disagree about what was unacceptable violence.

So today brings important news that's hardly a shocker: Paul Pringle at the Los Angeles Times writes, "Videos show use of force at OC Jail." Here's the opening of the A1 article:

Orange County sheriff's deputies repeatedly shocked a handcuffed prisoner with a Taser, even after he had been strapped into a restraint chair, slammed him onto the floor with a 'knee drop' and appeared to hit him in the head while he sat passively on a bench, jail video show.

The grainy but graphic images from 2006 show Matthew Fleuret, 24, being put into a holding cell at Orange County Jail and held on the floor by at least five deputies, one of whom pulls Fleuret's arms back and sharply up toward his head while others repeatedly shock him with a Taser over a period of about 13 minutes. Fleuret's lawyer says he was hit 11 times with a stun gun during the incident.

Pringle obtained a copy of an internal sheriff's report on the incident. Are you seated? Deputies claimed they were forced to attack Fleuret because of their sadistic nature. Oh, Jo Ann, put that yellow highlighter down. Of course, I jest. Guards wouldn't necessarily confess the truth.

Meanwhile, Christine Hanley and Stuart Pfeifer at the Times write today that Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson, a stooge of indicted ex-Sheriff Mike Carona, is under investigation for trying to intimidate the San Clemente City Council last November. In the wake of Carona's indictment, the council had contemplated telling the Orange County Board of Supervisors that Carona-harassed former Lieutenant Bill Hunt would be a good replacement upon the sheriff's resignation.

The thought sent shudders though the Carona-Galisky-Anderson-Bishop Cesspool (CGABC). Anderson (pictured) appeared in uniform at the council and, speaking either naturally as if in the fifth grade or with peanut butter in his mouth, told the panel of elected officials that such a letter would jeopardize the relationship between the city and the Orange County Sheriff's Department. The logic was positively Galisky-esque.

The Orange County Register--whose current marketing campaign is, I believe, "Now with even less content!"--got scooped on both stories.

One last thing: Thanks to brave Deputies X and Y for the new info on the CGABC.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

Turns out former Sheriff Mike Carona is not only A delinquent, but now is just plain delinquent as well.

The ex-Sheriff resigned in order to legally accept an offer of free legal assistance to help face the massive FBI allegations piled upon him. Otherwise the help would have been just another one of many gifts that supporters have piled upon the Sheriff over the years; him and his Debbies.

Mr. Carona was scheduled to give testimony in court on Jan. 8 in a matter relating to overtime pay. It seems the Sheriff's Department expected deputies to work during their lunch hour without overtime pay, among other matters I don't really care about. What I care about is that Carona didn't show. Mikey No-Show.

Anyhoo, yesterday I found this info easy but today it's almost impossible to come across, at least not through Google News. Has someone been scouring the internet making it difficult to discover damning information about our damned Sheriff? Conspiratorial ... but possible.

Read the information I extracted from the trusted German news resource, www.ad-hoc-news.de

Below THAT is the press release from the deputies' legal counsel,
Jackson DeMarco Tidus Petersen Peckenpaugh.

Well, ask and you shall receive. . .looks like we're starting a Carona lyric-swap library. Yesterday, Roy Rivenburg and Lisa O'Neill Hill took on The Knack's "My Sharona." Today, our very own Jack Grimshaw shot us his lovely bastardization of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

P.S. If anyone else wants to contribute to our growing collection, I'm at jkahn@ocweekly.com.

Mikey's Folsom Prison Blues!
By Jack Grimshaw

Well, I know that prison’s waiting,
It’s just around the bend,
I traded my integrity
For a lousy Montblanc pen,
I’m going to Folsom prison,
And all those scary dudes,
They’ll make me wear silk panties
And do things rather rude!

Got elected sheriff,
Started tapping my rich friends,
The means, I always figured,
Justify the ends,
But those lousy sons of bitches
At the FBI,
Got that sneaky shit Don Haidl
To tape me on the sly.

--- Instrumental ---

Well, they say I took in thousands -
700K!
So I took a leave of absence
While pulling down full pay,
Well, they’re claiming bribes and kickbacks
And witness tampering,
Now, to smack George Jaramillo,
I’d give anything.

If they’d just drop all these charges,
I’d promise to behave,
I’d even leave the county
A costly trial they’d save,
I’d even take my Debbies,
Number One and Two,
And if you wanna buy a badge, pal,
Just bring some cash with you!

Our former sheriff Mike Carona made the New York Times a couple of days ago, and the parachute dispatch was boring save for the last segment:

In recent years, however, local news outlets reported accusations of murky financial dealings and the misuse of public money and accusations of infidelity.

“Who knows?” Mr. Moorlach said. “At the end of the day, they might have been very accurate, and we may be coming to grips with that.”

Hey Moorlach and Times: it wasn't "local new outlets" that reported Carona's idiocies. It was the ORANGE COUNTY FREAKING WEEKLY. More specifically, it was our R. SCOTT FREAKING MOXLEY.

And Moorlach: we're ashamed of you. "They might have been very accurate"?! You of all people should appreciate Jeremiahs railing alone in the wilderness--for you to dismiss Scott's reports show how much of a hack you truly are.

The tragic tale of the former sheriff inspired retired L.A. Times feature writer Roy Rivenburg and former Press Enterprise police reporter Lisa O'Neill Hill to combine their powers and slap some new lyrics on an old 80's favorite.

Click here for a MIDI clip if you want to sing along.

The Ballad of Mike Carona
(to the tune of "My Sharona" by The Knack)
By Lisa O'Neill Hill and Roy Rivenburg

Ooh, the OC sheriff's done, sheriff's done.
Are you gonna do some hard time, Carona?
Ooh, they say you banked a sum, a big fat sum,
Montblanc pens and gifts so sublime, Carona.

Chorus:
Never gonna plea, give it up.
But you're in a bind, charged as too corrupt
and keeping a blonde concubine
My my my, aye aye woo! M-M-M-Mike Carona!

Can I buy a badge from you, a badge from you
If I give a yacht to you, Mike Carona?
I will pay a grand to you, monthly dues
Plus designer clothes for your wife, Carona.

(Chorus)

If you're under lock and key, lock and key
When the feds put you on trial, Carona
As an ex-chief deputy, deputy
Your pension should still make you smile, Carona.

(Chorus)

++++

Anyone else similarly inspired? Send all Carona-related lyrics, poems and bad photoshop to jkahn@ocweekly.com.

So, Peggy Lowe at the Register broke the story that His Indictedness (hey, that title still works!) would announce his resignation today on the department's website.

And here's the money quote—literally:

By stepping down from his elected position, Carona will also be able to accept the free legal work offered by two top white-collar criminal attorneys. The California Attorney General's Office has been reviewing since last month whether Carona's use of the pro bono services would violate the state's gift ban for public officials

That acrid smell coming from your computer is the death throes of your Irony Card.

(And the Los Angeles Times? At 7:30 this morning, they still had up the an Associated Press version of the story—which attributed everything to the Reg. Ooch.)

(Times catches up at 8:14 a.m.)

Orange County is a recall election-happy place (See Gustavo Arellano's "Recall Madness" from last August). So why not recall our indicted top cop?

The LA Times isn't wasting time hounding Sheriff Carona to step down. An editorial in today's edition asks voters to start up the recall process:

"Mike Carona obviously cares far more about Mike Carona than about his staff, his office or his county. That's always been his problem. But voters don't have to share his values or be his stooges. It's too late for the February election, but voters can, via recall petition, signal Carona that they want him out -- and that if he won't do it, they're prepared to do it for him."

Read the entire thing here.

Sheriff Mike Carona's two-month-long, taxpayer-supported leave of absence came to an end today--apparently, he and his Little Sheriff (and no, we don't mean puppet-in-charge Jo Ann Galisky, who subbed while Mikey-Mike was off supposedly preparing for his June trial) are back on the job. Kinda sorta--word is that he's working, but he's just not in the office.

Shit howdy! That means Mike has time to take a loving gaze up at the windows of OC Weekly Worldwide Headquarters, where we've posted awesome signage declaring him chicken for not releasing the unedited tapes he has that allegedly prove his innocence. Or perhaps you've seen our running ticker?

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona--indicted by federal prosecutors for public corruption--claims that surreptitious wires worn by co-conspirator Don Haidl, a former assistant sheriff, prove his innocence.

Indeed, the sheriff's lawyer says that Carona “is so anxious to fight these charges that we have to hold him back.”

If this is true and not just shameless spin, I challenge Carona to do something in his power: play the contents of the tapes in their entirety for the public now.

Show us that FBI agents are liars, as you claim. Show us that you didn't try to get Haidl to perjure himself about bribes you took for years. Show the Orange County Republican Party that your character is pure. Show the Orange County Sheriff's Department that I've been wrong about you all these years.

Or, as I suspect, are you afraid--no, terrified--of what those tapes reveal?

We're waiting. . . .

P.S. We're familiar with your PR playbook, sheriff. Playing select portions of the tapes for a friendly OC Register reporter/columnist won't meet the challenge.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

Mike Schroeder will jump out of bed this morning in Corona del Mar, neatly hang his Darth Vader pajamas in the closet, shower, kneel at his USC football altar and don an expensive, natty suit befitting Orange County’s leading Republican strategist-slash-chiropractic insurance company king.

It’s a big day in Schroederdom. He’ll drive his jumbo-sized, black Hummer to the state court of appeal (COA) in Santa Ana in the hopes of teaching a onetime disciple a lesson: Don’t Mess with Mike. Schroeder—consigliere to both District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Michael S. Carona—wants the justices to toss First District Republican Supervisor Janet Nguyen from office.

Not gonna bore you with technical election junk, but Schroeder claims the Registrar of Voters certified the wrong Nguyen as the winner (by just three votes) in last February’s special election. He says the Republican who finished second, Trung Nguyen, should be seated. Surely coincidentally to the merits of the case, Trung is, to put it bluntly, Schroeder’s boy. Janet, on the other hand, has had the audacity to show occasional independence from local GOP bosses like Schroeder.

But there’s more at play here than petty, inside political baseball. If the COA tosses Janet’s election, Schroeder—the reigning mastermind of OC insider games—will be in excellent position when his pal—the federally indicted Carona—leaves office prematurely. How? In his corner, he’d have three likely votes on the board of supes: Trung Nguyen, Pat Bates and Bill Campbell. That board majority gives Schroeder key influence over who will complete the remainder of Carona’s term at the county’s most powerful government agency.

So if you see Schroeder running excitedly into the COA building on Spurgeon this morning, it's not a pit stop. It's not even to distribute Mitt Romney For Prez brochures. Half of his law enforcement empire is at stake.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

• Sheriff's Lawyer Pal Going to the Slammer: Somehow defense attorney Joe Cavallo—indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s longtime drinking buddy—was able to operate a bail bonds scheme inside Carona’s jail. Hmmm. Wonder how that happened. Any ideas Mikey? Anyhow, yesterday Cavallo (pictured) became the latest in a series of Carona associates to win incarceration. Superior Court Judge Carla M. Singer ordered him to serve six months in jail, which—given his creativity—could prove profitable in the long run. But the 52-year-old won’t have to surrender until March.

  Cavallo became famous in this publication because of his vicious performance defending the Haidl Three, which included Gregory Scott Haidl—the son of Carona’s dirty Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl. (The elder Haidl has acknowledged to federal prosecutors that he’s a crook too.) The three men filmed themselves raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl on a Newport Beach pool table. Before they finished, they laughed as they repeatedly plunged a Snapple bottle, lit cigarette, apple juice can and pool cue into the victim’s vagina and rectum. Cavallo argued in court that the girl was a “slut” and should have been charged with raping the Haidl Three.

  Scorecard: Carona (pictured with a mob-tied contributor at a Newport Beach bar) indicted after an FBI investigation? Check. Carona’s wife indicted? Check. Carona’s top mistress indicted? Check. Carona pal nailed for illegal acts? Check. Carona’s two handpicked assistant sheriff’s convicted of public corruption? Check. Carona's Mafia-tied campaign contributor and party pal convicted? Check.

  Wonder who in Calamity Mike’s clan could be next…



• Rice in China? James Rice was born in Newport Beach, grew up in Costa Mesa, headed the Young Republicans at UCLA in the late 80s, graduated and with nothing but $100 moved to China to teach English. This weekend, the 42-year-old is featured by Don Lee in the LA Times. Why? Not because he speaks fluent Mandarin, commutes between China and California every few weeks and attends a “predominantly black West Angeles Church of God in Christ on Crenshaw Boulevard.” Tyson Foods Inc. uses Rice to sell $200 million worth of chicken annually to communist China. In recent Chinese product scandals, Rice played diplomat between Chinese leaders and the American government, according to Lee who writes from Shanghai.


• Where the hell is Adolf when you need him? This is not a good time to be a white supremacist in OC. Two of their boys are facing one way trips to San Quentin’s death row. On Friday, prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh announced that he will seek the ultimate punishment against Billy Joe Johnson, the Costa Mesa product who has been featured in this publication. Earlier this year, Johnson—already a convicted killer for ambushing a young man in Huntington Beach with a hammer—claimed on the witness stand that he also executed a fellow member of Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squad. It’s believed in prosecution circles that Johnson made the admission in hopes of blocking convictions against two of his PENI pals in the case. Didn’t work. Jacob Rump and Michael Lamb got roasted. Lamb faces a second DP trial after one jury deadlocked on the issue. Rump is a lifer.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

• Did Carona Create Yet Another Monster? If I was indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona, I might be getting tired of Jo Ann Galisky, Kool-Aid Queen. This acting sheriff bit has swelled her mullet. Six weeks after she became temporary head honcho, she's still telling everyone she can that Carona's absence "has had no impact" at the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Galisky (pictured busy at work) barked the line again yesterday, according to Peggy Lowe at the Register. Galisky's wrong again. At a minimum, dozens of married, slightly overweight, emotionally-needy, low-level female department employees are safe from sexual harassment at work. Lowe also reports that county counsel told the board of supervisors that they are powerless to alter Carona's self-imposed paid-leave absence. Board Chairman Chris Norby then declared Carona "still sheriff in every sense of the word," which is a funny thought given that our indicted top lawman is spending his days trying to get folks to participate in his coverup hopes. Oh, sure. I'm kidding. Mikey wouldn't do that himself. Cowards always get slap-happy morons to do their dirty work.
• I've done something terrible: Jeffrey Ray Nielsen--the Orange County Republican activist pedophile and ex-Dana Rohrabacher aide--finally admitted he's guilty of pleasuring himself sexually with a 12-year-old Virginia boy and a Westminster high school freshman boy. You've read the pathetic tales here. But some folks at the Register are disturbed by my Nielsen coverage. In my most recent story a week ago, I noted that the Reg had celebrated Nielsen as a compassionate hero allegedly saving homeless kittens from the Katrina disaster WITHOUT EVER MENTIONING THAT HE WAS AT THE TIME AN ACCUSED PEDOPHILE. "Nowhere did [our story] mention kittens," read an email from a staffer. Yep, it was homeless puppies the paper claimed Nielsen was aiding WITHOUT EVER MENTIONING THAT HE WAS AT THE TIME AN ACCUSED PEDOPHILE. I apologize for my error. [Editor's note: Actually, our story did say puppies, not kittens. So we're right, and they're wrong. Again.]
• Christian Broadcasting Network Finds OC "War": Pat Robertson's CBN folks went looking for villains and found--oh, Jesus, no--"homosexuals" once again. Of course, it's not good enough that the Sodomites want equal protection under the law. According to CBN, they've cleverly infiltrated schools as teachers and want to wear dresses to work. If a student voices opposition to the garments, they'll be sued by the homosexual teacher, according to Jose Gonzales, "a concerned Orange County resident." Gonzales told CBN, "We're in the middle of a big culture war and what's at stake right now is the traditional family." Jose, please let me know when the first lawsuit is filed.
-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

• $50 million Eskimo Pie: Because its priests and missionaries sexually abused 110 Eskimo children from 1961 to 1987, the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic Church has almost finalized a deal to pay $50 million to the victims, William Lobdell and Stuart Silverstein report in today’s LA Times. But “the settlement does not require the order to admit fault” and “more than a dozen” priests escaped criminal charges, according to the article. “Many plaintiffs said their once devoutly Catholic villages -- cut off from the world and without law enforcement -- offered a perfect setting for a molesting priest,” write Lobdell and Silverstein.
• Look! Up in the Sky! It’s Super Schroeder: Allen Bartlett at the Powder Blue Report and Steven Greenhut at the Register think the Orange County GOP Central Committee meeting should be “a doozy” because Cypress Mayor Mike McGill is expected to offer a resolution calling for an STD examination for indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona. I jest, Mikey. McGill wants the central committee to ask Carona to step aside following FBI revelations about brides and obstruction of justice. Of course, this will require deft defensive moves by Carona consigliere and GOP powerbroker Mike "Darth Vader" Schroeder (pictured out of uniform). But according to McGill’s resolution, “The sheriff’s own conduct, coupled with the serious federal charges against him and the pending trial, provide a significant distraction to the sheriff in the performance of his duties and ability to serve Orange County.”
• Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Chris Prevatt at theliberaloc.com published his interview with chief Carona Kool-Aid drinker, Jo Ann Galisky, who is temporarily running the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Poor Jo Ann (pictured with drink in hand). “If I do not speak with reporters and answer their questions, they will suppose that I have something to hide,” she told Prevatt. “When I answer their questions truthfully, I’m accused of being a shill for Sheriff Carona.” Cause you are a shill, honey. Galisky goes on to spin that the media “frenzy” on Carona’s corruption woes is an attack on the “hard working men and women” of the OCSD. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. Poor Mikey too. Here’s Prevatt: ”I asked Galisky if the Sheriff’s current leave of absence has had any effect on the day to day operations of the department. ‘Not really,’ she replied.” Ouch.
• Hanoiville? Times reporter My-Thuan Tran writes that San Jose’s Vietnamese district is attempting to re-market itself and is struggling to name itself. Here’s Tran:

  One group strongly pushed for "Saigon" to be in the name (as in "Little Saigon" or "New Saigon") as a tribute to the fallen capital of South Vietnam. Others wanted "Vietnam" included (such as "Vietnamtown" or "Vietnamese Business District"), which rankled the pro-Saigon groups that say such a name would glorify the communist country.

  
  Some of those who want “Saigon” in the name say anyone who opposes them is a communist sympathizer.

  Yawn.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

In preparation for an upcoming corruption story, I’ve been reviewing dozens of files I’ve maintained for nine years on Sheriff Michael S. Carona (pictured at a Newport Beach bar celebrating with Rick Rizzolo, a convicted felon tied to the Chicago Mafia and a man who thought so much of our sheriff he contributed to his re-election campaign).

This afternoon I re-discovered a hilarious old newspaper clip. Of course, it’s from the Register. The setting for the article is Carona’s January 1999 post-inauguration fundraiser at the Westin Hotel in Costa Mesa. Correa, a Democratic state assemblyman at the time, told the paper he was proud to attend the Republican sheriff’s event for at least two reasons: “Latino pride” and “because [Carona’s] a good man.”

Nice job, Lou.

Carona, who has been indicted by the FBI on corruption charges that he used his public office to receive bribes and obstruct justice, isn’t a Latino. Mike Carona is of Italian heritage. And as for the “good man” line . . . well . . . Lou, you blew that too didn’t you?

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

• Dana Point Gets a Celebrity! Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his wife, Cookie, have purchased a $7.6 million gated-community “vacation” home in Dana Point, according to the Times. Though “Hot Property” reporter Ruth Ryon didn’t share more details about the location, you can assume it’s at the oceanfront Headlands, property owned for decades by the Chandler family, longtime owners of Ryon’s employer. Anyhow, real estate agent Shelley Brown told the paper that Johnson, who lives most of the time in Beverly Hills, likes Dana Point more than Malibu. The 7,700-square-foot, ocean-view house holds five bedrooms, seven baths, a deck, wine cellar, home theatre, elevator and a pool, writes Ryon.
• A Hero In Our Midst: Peggy Lowe at the Register wins story of the day ("Competitive Juices Fuel Carona Prosecutor") with her exclusive interview with Brett Sagel, the assistant U.S. Attorney who is bravely prosecuting Calamity Mike (our frisky, money-loving, justice-bending sheriff) on a series of corruption charges. (Note to Reg: please don't use "juices" in headlines related to this sheriff.) Sagel, 33, declined to speak about his case against Mike Carona, but provided a nice little bio: St. Louis native who loves poker, eats vegetarian, votes Republican despite the efforts of his mother and uses words like “awesome.” An interesting tidbit buried in the story focused on Wayne R. Gross, until recently the chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana. He’s now in private practice, thankfully. Law enforcement sources have long told me that Gross wouldn’t prosecute criminals in OC’s power structure because he wants a high political office or judgeship. You’d hope that sort of slime wouldn’t be true, but then in Lowe’s story Gross—a fan of Carona consigliere Michael Schroeder--noted that he had to recuse himself from the probe because he was too close to Carona. Comforting, huh? I'm betting Gross will wear a black robe soon.
• Rush Limbaugh 101: Mike Anton and Garrett Therolf of the Times report that UCI law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky has already won $100,000 commitments from 11 large law firms, $1 million each from the Clarke Foundation and local lawyer Mark Robinson, a Democrat, plus $20 million from OC’s impersonation of Howard Hughes, reclusive billionaire Donald Bren of Newport Beach. Some local conservatives had claimed Chemerinsky’s appointment would destroy the school set to open in 2009. Their argument went something like this: Chemerinsky is liberal. Liberals are biased. Hire a conservative as dean. Conservatives have no bias.
-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

This just in from Peggy Lowe at the Register: The trial for Sheriff Carona, his wife and mistress starts June 10, 2008.

The Caronas have been told "to stay away from many of their friends and associates because they are potential witnesses."

• Your Tax Dollars Wasted: The Daily Pilot says that Costa Mesa officials admit they’ve spent at least $127,000 in public funds to prosecute Benito Acosta, an Orange Coast College student who had the audacity last year to demand the right to address the city council for the same three-minute period allotted to everyone else. Acosta wanted to criticize a policing plan suggested by Gestapo, errr, Mayor Allan Mansoor (R-Dusseldorf) when Mansoor prematurely turned off the public microphone, suspended the meeting and allowed a gaggle of cops to haul Acosta away. Welcome to OC, where government officials think they can get away with anything.
• Ellen May Want Back In Closet! The online Los Angeles Times homepage this morning reports that striking television writers have “declared war on Ellen.” According to a statement from the writer’s union, the star is writing her own material, which they say violates agreements and undermines the folks who put words in her mouth. Money quote: "We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog... yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day."
• Uh, Sheriff, That's Not What You Said Before: Indicted OC Sheriff Mike Carona is building a defense that blames two of his handpicked assistant sheriffs for his corruption charges. Ex-assistant sheriff’s Don Haidl and George Jaramillo have pleaded guilty to federal crimes and outlined Carona’s participation in using his powerful office for personal financial gain, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. It’s the Carona camp’s strategy to argue that you can’t trust admitted criminals, which would now be the only distinction between the three men. Anyhow, here was Calamity Mike on May 17, 2007, talking about why reporters should not trust inmates who insist a jail deputy participated in the brutal killing of an in-custody defendant: "I don't think it's uncommon for people charged with crimes to try and blame someone else.” Thanks, Mikey.
• Holy Crap: Stanton pastor Ronald Hernandez Tova, 57, was set to go to trial on Christmas Eve on charges that he’s repeatedly engaged in sexual intercourse with a minor who attends his church. In past months, people claiming to be Tova supporters at Shadow of the Almighty have told me he’s a fine, innocent man targeted by Satan. I’m beginning to see their point. Today, David Haldane at the Times OC bureau reports that the married pastor has been rearrested for twice violating a court order prohibiting contact with the 16-year-old girl. Now, he’s back in jail, facing additional charges and a higher $750,000 bail. Prosecutor Drew Haughton told the Times that Tova “continues to show complete disregard for the authority of law.”
-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

• Hookers take cash too, Mikey: Dana Parsons writes today that “the good news for [indicted OC Sheriff Mike] Carona is that the government doesn’t always win.” But Parsons says the “bad news” for Calamity Mike is that the feds take their “sweet time putting public corruption cases together.” He interviewed former assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Greenberg who says his old office is cautious and thorough “in cases like this where you’re trying to take down the county sheriff.” The Los Angeles Times columnist predicts Carona will plead guilty within two months. Meanwhile, Larry Welborn over at the Register reports that Al Stokke, a high-end criminal defense lawyer, thinks that Andrew Guilford, Carona’s federal judge, “is a down the middle guy.” The Dalai Lama should be impressed. Stokke is pals with Mike Carona operative Mike Schroeder, who is calling the FBI case "trash." The county’s bean counters have now decided to take a look at the sheriff’s spending habits—including his use of petty cash and travel accounts, according to Gil Reza and David Reyes at the Times. Supervisor John Moorlach wants Carona blocked from using a county credit card while he’s on his two-month leave of absence. I don’t think Carona will mind. Hookers take cash too.
• A Dunn Deal? Art Pedroza at the popular Orange Juice blog wrote yesterday that former state Senator Joe Dunn has dropped plans to run for the county board of supervisors. Instead, says Pedroza, Dunn--the most progressive Democratic candidate OC's ever elected—will go for the Santa Ana City Council seat currently held by Carlos Bustamante, a Republican sheep. Pedroza also speculates that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido could become Hillary Clinton's ambassador to Mexico, a move that would allow Dunn to become the next mayor.
• Make Your Campaign Checks Payable to My Wife Please: Rhonda Rohrabacher, wife of the Huntington Beach/Long Beach congressman who skipped Vietnam combat duty when it was his time to serve, is still grabbing money from the campaign kitty. According to Dana Rohrabacher’s latest disclosure report at the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Rhonda took almost