Man cheats rehab center, pleads guilty

A Costa Mesa man was sentenced to nine months in jail for stealing $35,000 from a local women’s rehabilitation program after pleading guilty in court Wednesday.

Steven John Lafata, 60, was also given three years’ formal probation and must pay more than $37,000 in restitution and penalties related to the 2007 theft.

Between January and April 2007, Lafata promised New Directions for Women, a local nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization for women, that he could raise money for them at a raffle by restoring a classic car.

Lafata promised organization leaders that if they gave him $35,000, he would buy a 1988 Ford Mustang Cobra prototype and restore it to collector quality.

Then they could raffle it off for between $65,000 and $75,000, Lafata told them.

Instead, he bought a 1989 Ford Mustang, appraised at $8,300, and did minimal repairs.

After buying it, he said he bought it for only $750 in state filings so he could avoid Department of Motor Vehicle fees.

The car was raffled off.

— Joseph Serna