SANTA MONICA : House Arrest Ordered in Embezzlement by Official
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An ex-Santa Monica city official Wednesday was sentenced to a year under house arrest for embezzling $448,000 in city funds and using the money to buy a house, cars, jewelry and furniture.
Because Charles Maurice Cota, a former supervisor in Santa Monica’s Risk Management Department, suffers from multiple sclerosis, Superior Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that he could serve his jail term under house arrest.
The judge also sentenced Cota to five years in state prison, suspended that term and placed him on five years’ probation. Deputy Dist. Atty. Ralph Plummer said that while Cota deserved to go to prison, he understands Cooper’s refusal to send him there.
Cota, who pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a public officer and five counts of forgery, ordered his department to issue nearly three dozen checks to fictitious companies last year for bogus accident claims involving city vehicles, Plummer said. He then transferred the money to his own bank accounts.
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