Ronald S Rubino

In Orange County's philanthropic scene, Sharon Esterley has a reputation as a formidable event planner. Seemingly tireless, relentlessly detail-oriented, the former John Wayne Airport spokeswoman has marshaled the less driven into action for causes from breast cancer to the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art. But for the past nine months, Esterley, 53, has been devoted to a solitary cause: securing an innocent verdict for former County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino, her husband of the past decade.

The county will pay the final $23,485 in attorney bills for former Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino, bringing to $631,263 the cost for defending him against criminal charges resulting from the county's bankruptcy. Rubino pleaded no contest in 1996 to a single felony count of altering public records, which was reduced to a misdemeanor by a judge and eventually stricken from his record.

Voicing reluctance to keep approving ever greater outlays of taxpayer money to defend officials accused of bankruptcy-related misdeeds, a divided Board of Supervisors nonetheless voted Tuesday to increase former Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino's legal fees cap to $500,000. "I'm supportive of the $500,000, but that is as far as I can go," said Supervisor Marian Bergeson. "A half-million dollars is a good contribution for a strong defense."

Former county Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino, who pleaded no contest to a charge arising from Orange County's bankruptcy, has had his criminal record wiped clean and wants taxpayers to reimburse him for about $25,000 he paid his attorney. The money he is seeking is in addition to $605,000 the county has already paid for Rubino's legal bills.

The Orange County district attorney's office put one of its own investigators on the stand Thursday as its final witness in the criminal case against former county Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino. As part of his testimony, investigator Larry Lambert read some of the former budget director's responses to earlier questioning before the Orange County Grand Jury. There will be no testimony today. Prosecutor Jan J.

Struggling to break a deadlock, jurors in the trial of former Orange County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino deliberated for a sixth day Thursday, but still failed to arrive at a verdict. Jurors will resume deliberations this morning, two days after the panel told presiding Judge J. Stephen Czuleger that they were a "hung jury" and have been plagued by personal infighting. Rubino is charged with two counts of helping former Treasurer Robert L.

Jurors deliberating in the trial of former Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino spent most of Thursday morning listening to court reporters read back the testimony of former Treasurer Robert L. Citron. In its second day of deliberations, the jurors asked for the Citron testimony and that of Rubino, accused of helping Citron misappropriate public funds. But they never got to the Rubino testimony. The trial is scheduled to resume this morning in Orange County Superior Court.

Jurors weighing the fate of former Orange County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino told a trial judge Wednesday that they were deadlocked amid signs that they have been plagued by personal infighting. At the end of the fifth day of deliberations, Judge J. Stephen Czuleger told jurors to return today to make a final attempt at reaching a unanimous verdict.

The county will pay the final $23,485 in attorney bills for former Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino, bringing to $631,263 the cost for defending him against criminal charges resulting from the county's bankruptcy. Rubino pleaded no contest in 1996 to a single felony count of altering public records, which was reduced to a misdemeanor by a judge and eventually stricken from his record.

Friends and relatives of former Orange County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino are lobbying the Orange County Board of Supervisors to pay Rubino's legal fees as he faces criminal charges in connection with the county bankruptcy. The county is not obligated to pay defense costs for current or former county employees.

Former Assistant Treasurer Matthew R. Raabe was handed a stinging three-year prison term Friday for his role in Orange County's 1994 financial collapse, making him the only person sent to prison for crimes arising from the largest governmental bankruptcy in U.S. history. Rejecting a recommendation by state prison authorities that Raabe be punished with probation and community service, Superior Court Judge Everett W.

Matthew R. Raabe, the former assistant county treasurer briefly hailed as a hero and then quickly labeled a villain after Orange County's 1994 financial collapse, was convicted Friday of misappropriating public funds and securities fraud related to the county's bankruptcy. His conviction on five separate felony counts could make Raabe the first Orange County official to face a prison sentence for crimes arising from the county's record-setting bankruptcy.

Ronald S. Rubino, the former county budget director accused of criminal wrongdoing related to the Orange County bankruptcy, has been selected as a financial consultant for the Orange County Transportation Authority. Officials said Rubino is helping develop a "mid-range" financial study of agency revenue and expenses. He will earn $9,700 under the contract, which began in December and ends in late February. "I've known Ron for a long time. He's done great work.

The criminal case against former county Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino--whose bankruptcy-related trial ended with a hung jury and plea agreement last month--began unraveling weeks before the first prosecution witness took the stand. It was the first week of July, prosecutors recall, and Rubino's chief accuser had just told them he was going to invoke his rights under a still-secret agreement with the district attorney: He was refusing to testify until his own trial was resolved.

Former Orange County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino was found guilty Monday on a single misdemeanor charge of falsifying county records, closing the book on the first criminal trial arising from Orange County's bankruptcy. Visiting Los Angeles Judge J. Stephen Czuleger pronounced Rubino guilty after accepting a plea of no contest from Rubino to one charge in a revised three-count complaint filed by the Orange County district attorney's office.

Former county Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino was found guilty Monday of a single misdemeanor charge of falsifying county records, closing the book on the first criminal trial arising from Orange County's bankruptcy. Visiting Los Angeles Judge J. Stephen Czuleger pronounced Rubino guilty after accepting his no-contest plea to one charge in a revised three-count complaint filed by the Orange County district attorney's office.

Struggling to break a deadlock, jurors in the trial of former Orange County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino deliberated for the sixth day Thursday, but still failed to arrive at a unanimous verdict. Jurors will resume deliberations this morning, after the panel of 11 women and one man told Presiding Judge J. Stephen Czuleger on Wednesday that they were a "hung jury" and plagued by infighting.

Five days after an Orange County jury deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquitting former Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino, his attorneys asked the trial judge Wednesday to dismiss money-skimming charges against him in the interest of justice. The attorneys told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger that prosecutors presented insufficient evidence to convict Rubino at the monthlong trial.

Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi declared the plea bargain struck with former County Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino a "victory for the people of Orange County" and rejected criticism that the agreement represents a stinging defeat for prosecutors. "If everything remains in place, justice will be served," Capizzi said in an interview Friday. "This serves to determine accountability and designate responsibility for these problems. I think we have accomplished that."

In what appears to be a face-saving move for embattled Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, prosecutors and defense attorneys have struck a deal to avoid a retrial of former Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino on money-skimming charges resulting from the county's bankruptcy. Under a proposed plea-bargain arrangement, the judge will dismiss two felony counts accusing Rubino of helping then-Treasurer Robert L. Citron skim nearly $100 million in interest belonging to other public agencies.