Three convicted, including ex-RivCo deputies, in scam involving illicit tows

A sentencing date was pending today for three ex-lawmen and a tow company operator who perpetrated a scam that involved the deputies steering business to the proprietor in exchange for bribes.

After deliberating barely two days, a Riverside jury on Friday convicted former Riverside County sheriff's Lt. Samuel Flores, former sheriff's Sgt. Robert Martin Christolon and Cody Close in the fraud that resulted in unwarranted costs for an unknown number of county residents.

Flores and Christolon were each found guilty of one count of accepting bribes and conspiracy, while Close was convicted of three counts of bribing public officers.

Jurors acquitted Flores and Christolon of unlawful use of a government computer network.

Their co-defendant, retired Deputy Kevin Alton Carpenter, pleaded guilty in March 2023 to receiving a bribe, conspiracy and unlawful use of a government computer network. He testified for the prosecution during the nearly monthlong trial at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Superior Court Judge Jerry Yang has not yet set a sentencing date for the defendants but is expected to before the holiday break this week.   

The District Attorney's Office's trial brief provided a comprehensive summary of how the towing scam began, how it was perpetrated in an almost brazen fashion and what finally triggered its undoing.

According to the brief, Carpenter had been assigned to the Temecula station's Traffic Bureau ``years'' before Flores and Christolon arrived, and he had developed a reputation for "devoting his time on duty to impounding parked vehicles, as well as for failing to properly enter those impounds into the sheriff's computer system, or complete the paperwork needed to let the vehicle owners know where their vehicles had been towed."  

When he came under the supervision of Flores, who became Traffic Bureau director in September 2017, and Christolon, who was the lieutenant's right-hand man, the conspiracy began to take shape.

It was interrupted when Carpenter was the subject of an internal affairs investigation directly related to citizen complaints about his slipshod, over-zealous "towing habits," the brief stated. However, after a temporary reassignment to the sheriff's court services division, the deputy was placed back under Flores' supervision.   

The internal investigation yielded no repercussions.   

Court papers said Flores and Close, owner of TJ's Towing in Temecula, developed a relationship after the lieutenant received a favor from his co-defendant in acquiring a classic International pickup truck in early 2018. Soon after, there were lunches and dinners between the men. Prosecutors said Carpenter was abruptly granted permission to add his name to overtime shifts at the Traffic Bureau whenever he pleased.   

"Flores personally informed Carpenter of when overtime was available,'' the brief said.

The deputy began claiming so many OT shifts "that other deputies started to complain and even scribble over his name on the sign-in sheets," according to the brief.

When the aggrieved deputies took their complaints to Christolon, "he never did anything in response,'' documents stated.   

Prosecutors said Carpenter aggressively sought out street-parked vehicles to impound for little or no reason, and TJ's Towing received virtually all of his calls for service. This occurred even though TJ's Towing wasn't always the company on the sheriff's ``rotation list,'' which is maintained to ensure impound business is equitably distributed, on a weekly basis, to multiple companies, according to the prosecution.

"Towing for the sheriff's department is a lucrative business,'' the brief said, outlining how there's not only a charge for the tow, but a base charge for the impound and then daily storage fees imposed on owners.

TJ's Towing received dozens of impound calls from Carpenter, and Flores "personally approved" the deputy's OT requests, the brief said.   

The lieutenant "exchanged hundreds of text messages'' with Close, occasionally telling him, "make that money, homie," the narrative stated.

It said Flores not only received a major cost break on the pickup, but also a 1979 Corvette that had been the subject of a "lien sale." There was an arrangement for the then-lawman to receive a free stay at Close's mother's $4 million Oceanside home by the sea, which she periodically rented out. Flores also received free towing services for his personal vehicles, complimentary tickets for him and his family to the Temecula Balloon & Wine Festival, limousine rides and other gratuities, according to the brief.

During this time, Close's hazardous materials cleanup company began receiving an inordinate amount of business from the Temecula station, as well, prosecutors said.

In December 2018, after Close arranged it, Christolon was able to purchase a 2009 Honda Civic at a lien sale for $200, even though the collective fees attached to the vehicle totaled $3,290, according to the D.A.'s office.   

Prosecutors said the scheme came undone after Flores and Christolon transferred to the Jurupa Valley station in mid-2019 and arranged for the Traffic Bureau there to utilize TJ's Towing -- even though it wasn't on the station's approved list -- immediately prompting an investigation. Carpenter had retired by that time and had started working for the company.   

The investigation culminated in indictments against the foursome in 2020.   

They're all free on bond.