Raabe Faces Prison Stint for Evaluation

Matthew R. Raabe, the former assistant Orange County treasurer convicted last week of five felonies stemming from the county bankruptcy, will spend up to 90 days in the diagnostic unit of a state prison for a pre-sentencing study that will help a judge decide his punishment.

Until arrangements are made for him to enter Chino State Prison in San Bernardino County, where an extensive pre-sentencing evaluation will be conducted, Raabe, 41, remains free on $25,000 bail.

“I’m comfortable that Mr. Raabe is going to look good in any probation or diagnostic report,” said Gary Pohlson, his lead defense attorney. “He’s a solid citizen.”

Raabe’s conviction on Friday for misappropriating public funds and securities fraud could make him the first Orange County official to face prison for crimes arising from the county’s bankruptcy.

Raabe’s boss, former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, pleaded guilty in 1995 to the same charges that Raabe faced--charges that carried prison terms of more than 13 years and fines up to $10 million. But Citron’s pre-sentencing report took note of his age, 71, and recommended against prison.

Citron is serving a one-year jail sentence in a work-release program in which he does clerical work for the county jail during the day and spends his nights at home.

The only other official who faced criminal charges was former budget director Ronald S. Rubino. After a jury deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquitting him on the two felony charges he faced, Rubino pleaded no contest to a single felony and was sentenced to two years’ probation and 100 hours of community service.

Pohlson had suggested that the San Diego County Probation Department prepare a pre-sentencing report on Raabe as it had on Citron. Pohlson said he feared that a department which suffered severe cutbacks as a result of the county’s bankruptcy might not be impartial to a man convicted of bankruptcy-related crimes.

But Assistant Dist. Atty. Jan Nolan argued that Raabe had been tried by local prosecutors, convicted by a local jury and should be evaluated by the local Probation Department.

“I can see no reason at all why the Orange County Probation Department cannot be fair,” she said.

Judge Everett W. Dickey said Pohlson’s objection had some merit. “There might be a perception that the Probation Department was impacted by Mr. Raabe’s activities,” Dickey said. “I think there is a danger of a perception of unfairness.”

It was Dickey’s suggestion that Raabe be sent to a state prison for a pre-sentencing study.

Nolan did not object to the study being conducted by the Department of Corrections.

If Raabe does receive a prison sentence, the time spent at Chino for the diagnostic study would be subtracted from that, Dickey said.

Outside court, Pohlson lamented that even before his client is officially sentenced, he will have already spent more time in prison than any other county official charged in the bankruptcy, including Citron.

“He is going to prison,” Pohlson said. “He is the only one in this whole group who is going to prison. Citron never did a day.”

Pohlson said his client is “apprehensive” about prison. But the attorney said they chose that option because they thought the process would be more fair and better for Raabe in the long run.

Raabe will return to court Thursday to discuss the specifics of his being taken into custody at Chino, which Dickey agreed to delay for at least a week at the request of Raabe’s attorneys.

Dickey said Raabe’s bail will be reinstated if the diagnostic study is completed in less than 90 days.