I'm going to post some news references to San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos with comments. First is the Leggio story.

 San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos recused himself from the case. Mark Christopher Auto Center gave Ramos four campaign contributions over the past six years. In all, Ramos got $30,000 for his district attorney's race from Leggio's business.

Susan Mickey, spokeswoman for Ramos, said Monday that the district attorney regarded Leggio as a longtime supporter and a friend. Ramos kept his office out of the investigation "to avoid any hint of impropriety," she said.

Does this make any sense to you? If Ramos will not get involved in investigating people who have given his campaign money,it amounts to immunity from the law and the DA's office in exchange for a campaign contribution. I tried to look up Ramos's 460's filed with the County but wouldn't you know it, you have to go to the Registrars office to get copies.

See if you can find any hint of impropriety in the next story.

Mark Kirk, the son of Hesperia Unified School District school president Robert Kirk, and the chief of staff for San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt, held his first fundraiser Thursday at the Quality Inn and Suites Green Tree in Victorville.

Hesperia City Councilman Ed Pack, former councilman Jim Lindley, County Assessor Bill Postmus, Victorville Mayor Terry Caldwell and school board member Hardy Black, among others, attended the event. Ovitt hosted the event and the keynote speaker was San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos.

Politics and raising money for a non-partisan Hesperia City Council candidate put Ramos talking shop for an evening with Postmus. In Postmus's Tri-Land real estate partner Dino DeFazio's Green Tree Inn. I cannot think of anything more innapropriate then the DA out in public with someone he is supposed to be investigating. Is the Grand Jury/DA investigation into Postmus still active? Are Postmus's contributions to Ramos DA campaign committee and his political activities a reason for Ramos not to get involved in the investigation? Does this buy Postmus a pass from Ramos? Did he recuse himself from the Grand Jury investigation also? What is going on with the DA and Postmus?

Didn't the DA's office serve a search warrant on the assessors office last month? Didn't DA Ramos block the Press Enterprise from the details of the warrant in court? When does Ramos investigate and when does he recuse himself for political reasons? This is from the Ramos appeal to block public access to the search warrant information.

The district attorney's office says the documents could hinder the progress of the current investigation and all investigations handled by the Public Integrity Unit.

"We fear that making the matter public at this time would have a chilling effect on the willingness of future witnesses to come forward," a statement by the district attorney's office read.

It is unclear how long the stay will be in effect. The court of appeals can either request more information to decide the case or issue a decision in coming days, according to the statement.

"It is baffling to me why the district attorney would try to continue to have it suppressed, unless - and this is pure speculation - it could reflect badly on the district attorney's office," Opotowsky said.

 Looking back, why didn't Ramos file the charges against Honeycutt and Cox in the Charter School indictments? It took a special grand jury to do it 5 years after the fact. If Ramos can't bring any charges against his political peer group, I don't have any faith in the DA's office prosecuting his political friends in court. This needs to be handled by someone outside of San Bernardino County, because Ramos has shown that he will not enforce the law when it comes to his political allies or campaign contributors. Here's another twist between the DA's office and Honeycutt that has yet to be explained. In this September of 2007 story, the DA's office claims that Honeycutt's assets are frozen due to the nature of the indictments.

White-collar crime statute freezes Honeycutt's, Cox's assets

At the end of the set of indictments issued September 4 against Councilman Tad Honeycutt and California Charter Academy founder C. Steven Cox, there's an additional provision, after all 117 counts are listed.

Citing California Penal Code 186.11, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office alleges that, in addition to charges of fraud, misappropriation of public funds, filing a false tax return and failure to file false tax returns, the two men are to be charged with the state's aggravated white-collar crime enhancement.

The enhancement does two things: First, it can add up to five years in prison for Cox and Honeycutt, should they be convicted. In the meantime, it freezes their financial assets.

"The purpose of 186.11 is to make sure that they don't dissipate assets that will be [needed] for restitution," Deputy District Attorney Michael Fermin, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Wednesday. "That's what the statute's about: [freezing the assets] before they have the chance to spend everything."

Cox and Honeycutt are accused of misappropriating $5.5 million in the indictments handed down earlier this month. In an April 2005 audit of CCA commissioned by the California Department of Education, auditors alleged the misappropriation could total as much as $23 million.

"I think that the problem is that when the government attaches your assets, it's really exerting a tremendous amount of power and authority over you," said Mark Shoup, supervising public defender in the Victorville courthouse. "Normally, we reserve that kind of action to something where there's been a full judicial process.

"What [the prosecution is] doing is legal, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's illegal, I'm saying it's unfair," he said. "The assumption that whatever assets the defendant has, he got them illegally. ... We presume innocence in this country, and this statute doesn't presume that."

The aggravated white-collar crime enhancement is a relatively new provision in the penal code, having first gone into effect on July 1, 2005. In the two years since then, it has withstood challenges.

"To the extent that it's been challenged constitutionally, it's been upheld," Shoup said.

The freezing of Cox's and Honeycutt's assets complicated bail and complicates defense for the two men. Cox remained in jail for several days after Honeycutt was released.

At trial, Cox will be represented by public defender Geoff Canty, with Shoup assisting on the case. Thursday, Honeycutt said he was speaking with defense attorneys and attempting to arrange funding for his legal costs. Both Cox and Honeycutt were due in court Friday morning for a confirmation of counsel hearing.

The aggravated white-collar crime enhancement makes allowances for legal fees and living expenses.

"There's some provision for legal defense" in the statute, Fermin said.

"The court, in making its orders, may consider a defendant's request for the release of a portion of the property affected by this section in order to pay reasonable legal fees in connection with the criminal proceeding," California Penal Code 186.11 reads in part. "Any necessary and appropriate living expenses pending trial and sentencing, and for the purpose of posting bail."

"They both bailed out, so they're both people of means," Fermin said. Cox was being held on a $1 million bail and Honeycutt's bail was half that.

"I'm just saying that I think it's unfair," Shoup said. "There's been no proof that it's been obtained in a fraudulent manner. ... There's been no trial and certainly [Cox and Honeycutt haven't] been convicted of anything."

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.

 Then in November of 2007 Honeycutt opens a Snap Fitness franchise at Topaz and Main and plans to open 5 more in the High Desert. How do you start up 6 business's with frozen assets? You don't, because Honeycutt's assets when never frozen. What's the deal here?

Honeycutt opening gyms after judge freezes assets

Comments 1

|

Recommend 0

HESPERIA — City Councilman Tad Honeycutt opened a fitness center at Topaz Avenue and Main Street in Hesperia on Sunday, and said that he will be opening five more in the Victor Valley.

Honeycutt’s financial assets were frozen in September by a judge in his trial for felony counts of misappropriation of public funds, 15 counts of grand theft, three counts of tax evasion and one count of filing a false tax return.

The case is related to Honeycutt’s work with the California Charter Academy that closed in 2004, and his assets were frozen when an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement was added to the list to charges against him.

The gyms are affiliated with the national company Snap Fitness, and Honeycutt said his involvement is only temporary: He will open the gyms and hire managers, then step away.

A legal notice published Monday tied the business name “Snap Fitness-Hesperia” to Tad Honeycutt’s mother, Kathleen Honeycutt, who lives in Vancouver, Wash.

Tad Honeycutt confirmed that his parents, Kathleen and Theron Honeycutt, are managers in Fantastic Fitness LLC, which owns the Snap Fitness-Hesperia name, according to the San Bernardino County Auditor/Controller-Recorder Web site.

Other partners in the limited liability company are “investors that don’t want to disclose who they are,” Tad Honeycutt said. “My goal is just to set it up.”

When asked whether Honeycutt would be able to shelter money in a business registered under his mother’s name, the lead prosecutor on Honeycutt’s case, Deputy District Attorney Michael Fermin, said that he could not comment because the case is pending.

The next Snap Fitness location will be in Apple Valley, and will open at Highway 18 and Apple Valley Road in mid-January.

Honeycutt said that Fantastic Fitness LLC plans to open more gyms across the Southwest, and the business is unique because clients pay month-to-month, the gyms are open 24 hours a day and “it’s like your own private club.”

Honeycutt said he does not work out now, but might start now that he is opening the gyms.

“I’ve always done business development,” Honeycutt said. “That’s what I did with the charter schools.”