Cortes, Ferre, Garcia refuse to put Miller on Agenda per Stanckiewitz request to discuss compensation to Miller for having been put through the ordeal which the City and the Council Contributed. Each of the Council Members Cortes, Ferre, and Garcia were quick to vote no on the Stanckiewits motion.
Ex-Grand Terrace councilman pleads guilty
10:30 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Former Grand Terrace City Councilman Jim Miller pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge stemming from his votes as a councilman to approve payments to his wife's weekly newspaper for publishing the city's legal advertisements.
San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Bryan Foster sentenced Miller to two years probation, but agreed to cut that term in half if the former councilman provides proof that he paid $17,812.42 in restitution to the city.
Miller's attorney, Jim Reiss, said outside court that the money has already been paid and that Miller will apply in a year to have the conviction expunged.
The judge also fined Miller $170, but fees and penalties pushed the total to $305.
A plea agreement came after last-minute negotiations at the courthouse in San Bernardino. Prosecutor John Goritz, of the district attorney's Public Integrity Unit, agreed to drop a felony charge that could have resulted in a prison term as long as three years.
Miller pleaded guilty to having a financial interest by a state or local official in a government contract.
Reiss and Goritz said Miller's resignation from the council in March fulfills a requirement of the plea agreement. Goritz said by phone afterward that the agreement also prohibits Miller from holding public office for four years.
Miller, who has said he does not plan to run for the council again, declined to comment after Tuesday's court appearance. His wife, Margie, fought back tears as she was comforted by several supporters at the courthouse.
The plea came just over a year after Miller's arrest and less than two weeks before his trial would have started.
Miller had been charged with felony conflict-of-interest stemming from his votes to approve payments to the Grand Terrace City News for running legal ads for the city from Oct. 26, 2006, to Aug. 12, 2008.
He publicly acknowledged during a resignation speech at a council meeting in March that he should have abstained from voting. But he also said that no one, including City Attorney John Harper, had suggested that he abstain from voting.
In a report filed in support of the criminal charge, a San Bernardino County district attorney's investigator quoted Miller as saying Harper had told him when his wife bought the newspaper in 2006 that her ownership posed no conflict of interest for Miller.
Harper has since contended that his opinion dealt with whether the councilman's wife could make a purchase within the citywide redevelopment agency boundary, not with Jim Miller voting on payments to the paper.
Reiss, Miller's attorney, said the city attorney's advice, along with the potential knowledge of other city employees, would have made it difficult for prosecutors to obtain a felony conviction.
Goritz said he had offered a misdemeanor plea deal since early in the legal process.
Reach Darrell R. Santschi at 951-368-9484 or dsantschi@PE.com
Gramps adds: Now we know the charges that are reasonable when will Ferre and Cortes be charged with similar transgressions? Why hasn't Schwab or Berry been brought up on charges for their conduct?
