BRAND SAYS SCHOOL DISTRICT OPERATIONS CAUSED CONCERNS
Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Ed Brand told a criminal grand jury that the way the district operated in 2011, when he returned after a six-year hiatus, “just didn’t seem right.”...
View ArticleSouth County grand jury transcripts posted
U-T Watchdog presents here several volumes of grand jury transcripts from secret proceedings in November and December leading up to hundreds of corruption charges against 15 officials and contractors...
View ArticleArchitect felt like fix was in
">Background Gala prize was Napa weekend with contracting officialContractor joked about 'naked chick for a year' as commissionSouth Bay emails made escort joke According to the testimony, Min wrote...
View ArticleCONTRACTOR FEARED TERMINATION IF LAVISH GIFTS STOPPED
The president of the company managing Sweetwater schools’ $644 million bond program told a criminal grand jury that he feared losing his multimillion-dollar contract if he did not shower officials...
View Article'Boy I spent a lot of money on those people'
The president of the company managing Sweetwater schools’ $644 million bond program told a criminal grand jury that he feared losing his multimillion dollar contract if he did not shower officials...
View ArticleContractor: Gandara took check, said thanks
Lighting contractor Jeffrey Taylor told a criminal grand jury that he was approached for campaign contributions from Sweetwater school board member Pearl Quiñones and witnessed former Superintendent...
View ArticleDefense: Contractor fudged reports
A key witness whose expense accounts are helping the prosecution build a corruption case against 15 school officials and contractors in South County has fudged his forms and suffers from other...
View ArticleCREDIBILITY ISSUES IN CORRUPTION CASE
A key witness whose expense accounts are helping the prosecution build a corruption case against 15 school officials and contractors in South County has fudged his forms and suffers from other...
View ArticleLUAU BEGAN SWEETWATER GIFT HAUL, CONTRACTOR TESTIFIES
The first time construction contractor Jaime Ortiz got a call from then-Sweetwater school board member Gregory Sandoval, Ortiz was in Los Angeles, he told a grand jury. Sandoval wanted to meet and...
View ArticleLuau launched Sweetwater coziness
The first time construction contractor Jaime Ortiz got a call from then-Sweetwater school board member Gregory Sandoval, Ortiz was in Los Angeles, he told a grand jury. Sandoval wanted to meet and...
View ArticleBrand: Sweetwater practices “didn’t seem right”
Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Ed Brand told a criminal grand jury that the way the district operated in 2011, when he returned after a six-year hiatus, “just didn’t seem right.”...
View ArticleBrand: Sweetwater ways 'didn’t seem right'
Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Ed Brand told a criminal grand jury that the way the district operated in 2011, when he returned after a six-year hiatus, “just didn’t seem right.”...
View ArticleSweetwater attorney: 'We support our friends'
Excerpts from transcripts of grand jury testimony in November and December in the South County corruption probe by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The proceedings were secret, but a judge allowed...
View ArticleComplete set of South County transcripts
U-T Watchdog has been covering the release of grand jury transcripts in the South County corruption case brought by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis involving more than 200 charges against 15...
View ArticleSweetwater suspends bond program manager
More Superintendent Ed Brand at news conference (Ashly McGlone) Background CHULA VISTA Sweetwater schools Superintendent Ed Brand on Wednesday suspended all district work by Seville Group Inc., the...
View ArticleWhat's in the Grim Sleeper's Grand Jury Transcripts
by Christine Pelisek Info Christine Pelisek is staff reporter for The Daily Beast, covering crime. She previously was a reporter at the LA Weekly, where she covered crime for the last five years. In...
View ArticleSweetwater defense attorneys speak up
More Gallery: Four current and former Sweetwater schools officials pleaded not guilty to a barrage of charges on Friday, raising the curtain on the largest public-corruption case to jolt San Diego...
View ArticleNixon's long-secret grand jury testimony released
WASHINGTON -- The National Archives and the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum have unsealed long-secret transcripts and other materials from President Richard Nixon's grand jury testimony. The...
View ArticleEducators Face Charges in Corruption Case
More than a dozen school officials from the Sweetwater, San Ysidro and Southwestern College school districts appeared in court Friday to face charges including bribery and perjury. Prosecutors said the...
View ArticleFinal ruling pending on corruption case transcripts
CHULA VISTA The judge handling the case of more than a dozen South County officials and contractors accused of corruption said on Friday that she will issue a final ruling Tuesday as to what...
View ArticleTranscript ruling made in school corruption case
CHULA VISTA A judge presiding over the corruption case involving 15 South County officials and contractors ruled tentatively Thursday that out of the 4,200 pages that make up the grand jury...
View ArticleFINAL TRANSCRIPT RULING ON TUESDAY
CHULA VISTA The judge handling the case of more than a dozen South County officials and contractors accused of corruption said on Friday that she will issue a final ruling Tuesday as to what...
View ArticleAnother contractor pleads out in corruption probe
CHULA VISTA Another contractor pleaded out Thursday in the District Attorney's widening corruption probe into South County construction contracts awarded under voter-approved bond programs at...
View ArticleSweetwater School Officials to Face Judge
Five people connected to the Sweetwater Union High School District will appear in a San Diego courtroom to face charges of bribery. Current and former board members along with a contractor are accused...
View Article13 PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN CORRUPTION CASE
"> 27 Volumes of grand jury transcripts defendants sought to keep under wraps After more than three months of delay, each of the figures accused in a South County corruption scandal stretching...
View ArticleJudge: few redactions in corruption case transcripts
CHULA VISTA A judge presiding over the corruption case involving 15 South County officials and contractors ruled tentatively Thursday that out of the 4,200 pages that make up the grand jury...
View ArticleEx-prosecutor Kline criticizes Johnson County grand jury
More News TOPEKA | Testimony in former Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline's disciplinary hearing ended today with him spending more than four hours battling charges that he misled a grand...
View Article13 ADD NOT GUILTY PLEAS IN CORRUPTION CASE
"> 27 Number of volumes of grand jury testimony transcripts that were ordered unsealed After more than three months of delay, each of the figures accused in a South County corruption scandal...
View ArticleThose whose homes were searched
Related Background about the subjects named in search warrants executed by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday: Nicholas Alioto Former Southwestern College vice president for...
View ArticleSouthwestern suspends $5.8 million in contracts
Rendering of the Corner Lot project at Southwestern College, which has stalled Previously CHULA VISTA Southwestern College has suspended $5.8 million in contracts with two firms that are players in...
View ArticleDA's office says officials took dinners, tickets, more
Gallery: Officials at two South Bay school districts regularly hit up contractors for expensive dinners, theater and sports tickets and other gifts, according to affidavits from the District Attorney's...
View Article3 more indicted in South Bay corruption probe
Previously Manuel Paul A probe into corruption among South Bay school officials has widened to include another school district, with indictments against three additional officials. A grand jury has...
View ArticleSouth County defendants deny charges
After more than three months of delays, each of the figures accused in a South County corruption scandal stretching across three school and college districts have pleaded not guilty to the charges they...
View ArticlePoint man on Sweetwater bond review is sidelined
More Previously The man leading an outside audit of Sweetwater Union High School District bond projects has been removed from the review because he used to work for the construction management company...
View ArticleSweetwater defendants plead not guilty
More In a courtroom packed with parents, lawyers and television news cameras, four current and former Sweetwater schools officials pleaded not guilty Friday to a barrage of felony charges, raising the...
View ArticleIndictments Rain Down Across South Bay
More defendants have been snagged in the District Attorney's corruption probe into South Bay school construction projects. The San Diego Superior court docket for Monday reveals a 9 a.m. preliminary...
View ArticleKEY WITNESS IN BRIBERY GETS PROBATION
SAN DIEGO A key witness for the prosecution in a corruption case involving several current and former South County school officials was placed on probation Friday for a term of three years. Henry...
View Article15 to face indictments in South Bay case
Fifteen people linked to a corruption scandal involving construction contracts at three South Bay school districts are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Superior Court. A criminal grand jury...
View ArticleLopez: 'We are singing in the rain, all of us together!'
Bertha Lopez, first elected to the Sweetwater board in 2008, won re-election in November when she defeated former Chargers defensive lineman Burt Grossman in a heated race. She works for the National...
View ArticleProfiles of those charged in Sweetwater case
More Related Those charged by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis Henry Amigable Amigable is the construction executive behind many of the criminal allegations contained in the charging documents released...
View Article'They drank all my liquor'
Some wanted lobster. Some wanted campaign cash. At least one wanted no part of the gifts and dinners and trips that were routinely paid for by contractors doing business with South County schools....
View Article15 NOW FACE CHARGES IN SOUTH BAY CORRUPTION CASE
A corruption probe in the South Bay tripled in size Monday as 15 people faced 232 felony and misdemeanor counts in the scandal involving construction contracts at three South Bay school districts. The...
View ArticleSouth Bay corruption probe triples in size
A corruption probe in the South Bay tripled in size Monday, as 15 people faced 232 felony and misdemeanor counts in the scandal involving construction contracts at three South Bay school districts. The...
View ArticleContractor: Officials demanded meals
In his nearly two-decade career in the construction industry, Henry Amigable told a grand jury, it was standard practice to build and maintain relationships with potential clients — including local...
View ArticleSouth County transcripts released
Thousands of pages of testimony transcripts were released Tuesday, outlining the prosecution’s case against 15 South County officials and contractors accused of exchanging meals and other gifts for...
View ArticleContractor: South County officials demanded meals
In his nearly two-decade career in the construction industry, Henry Amigable told a grand jury, it was standard practice to build and maintain relationships with potential clients — including local...
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