Orange County Sheriff S Department

If a judge takes the lead from probation officers, former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona could face 6 1/2 years in prison for leaning on his assistant to lie to a grand jury that was investigating the administration of the state's second-largest sheriff's agency. A probation report, which recommends that the man once dubbed "America's sheriff" serve 78 months in federal prison for witness tampering, was issued last week and was immediately sealed.

After weeks of growing tension between Orange County's top law enforcement agencies, the district attorney Tuesday offered what he said was clear evidence that sheriff's deputies changed their stories and held to a "code of silence" in an assault case that ended with prosecutors dropping charges against a veteran deputy.

After weeks of wrangling, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens will present the Board of Supervisors today with restructuring plans that include $20.5 million in cuts -- the most significant in the department's history. "These are services that we believe are quite important to maintaining public safety, that we're not just going to be able to continue," sheriff's spokesman John McDonald said.

As Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens outlined $21.6 million in department budget cuts -- including an unprecedented layoff of 42% of the command staff -- to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, she also warned that next year's budget would probably be worse. Hutchens will lay off six of 14 captains and two of four assistant sheriffs to avoid laying off 16 investigators and two sergeants. The move will save the department $2.2 million.

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens on Monday unveiled a dramatic reorganization of the department that will consolidate such major services as operations and investigations and cut captains who oversee training and special projects. The changes combine similar services under one supervisor and increase the sheriff's role in overall operations. They are intended to help offset the department's $28-million budget shortfall. Over the last three weeks, Hutchens has personally informed each member of her command staff whether they will stay or go. Those leaving include Assistant Sheriffs Jack Anderson and John B. Davis, as well as Capts.

A onetime assistant sheriff and trusted aide of convicted former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona was sentenced Monday to 27 months in prison for scheming to defraud the public of honest services and filing a false tax return. In a voice husky with emotion, George Jaramillo apologized to the court and said, "I am here to say that I am profoundly sorry for what I have done. While I did not set out to commit crimes, my cavalier and irresponsible mode . . . was criminal." Carona appointed Jaramillo as assistant sheriff in 1999 and fired him in March 2004, after rumors spread that a federal investigation of the Sheriff's Department was underway.

A former Orange County assistant sheriff fired in 2004 and sent to jail in a perjury conviction could receive about $270,000 in back pay under a judge's tentative ruling that he was wrongfully terminated by then-Sheriff Michael S. Carona, his attorney said Tuesday. In a tentative ruling issued June 19, Orange County Superior Court Judge Andrew Banks found that Carona, who was recently convicted of witness-tampering and sentenced to more than five years in prison, denied his former chief of staff, George Jaramillo, notice of termination and a due process hearing.

Convicted former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona may remain free pending appeal today even though it is his official surrender date. Carona, 53, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford to begin serving a 5 1/2 -year prison term starting today. Although it is his official surrender date, Carona has a "bail pending appeal" motion before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which means that his actual surrender date will be tied to the court's ruling, said Thom Mrozek of the U.S. attorney's office.

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona intends to return to work Monday, ending a 60-day paid leave of absence initiated after he was charged with corruption in a federal grand jury indictment. It remained unclear how much time Carona would spend in the sheriff's Santa Ana headquarters when he returns to work. In a statement, the department said Undersheriff Jo Ann Galisky would continue to handle day-to-day operations after Carona's return.

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's announcement Monday that he was quitting his post to fight public corruption charges left the state's second-largest sheriff's department in upheaval. As he departed, Carona took steps to leave his political imprint on the department, firing one of his assistant sheriffs, Dan Martini, without explanation, and appointing as interim sheriff one of his biggest loyalists.