Over the prosecution’s objection, a judge Monday lowered bail from $775,000 to $350,000 for a former audio-visual technician for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, who’s accused of misappropriating more than $4 million in public funds.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sergio C. Tapia II, however, refused the defense’s request to release Thatcus Carl Richard, 64, of Moreno Valley, on his own recognizance.
Deputy District Attorney Susan Choi argued against the bail reduction, noting that it had already been lowered from the initial amount of $1.2 million.
“I object to a further reduction,” the prosecutor said, telling the judge that Richard poses a “flight risk.”
Defense attorney Richard Barnwell told the judge that his client — who has been brought to all of his court appearances in a wheelchair — has cancer and is not “receiving his medication.”
He told the judge that, if released, his client would be “going to a hospital that can provide him with the care he needs” and would only return home when he can get skilled care he requires.
Richard has been behind bars since being arrested June 10 by investigators from the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.
He pleaded not guilty June 15 to nine counts each of conflict of interest, public officer crime and embezzlement by a public officer.
Between July 1996 and March 2014, Richard — who was in charge of managing video and audio jobs for the utility — allegedly enlisted friends to establish audio-visual companies and then helped award DWP contracts to them.
In return, the companies would subcontract the work to a company owned by the defendant called Top Line Communications, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Richard is also accused of using DWP equipment and resources for his personal gain. If convicted of all charges, he faces up to 20 years in state prison.
DWP officials said that as a result of the case, the utility has begun reviewing all of the contracts initiated by its small business units over the past five years and has bolstered training for contract managers. For the first time, the utility also established a vendor-authentication unit to verify the legitimacy of companies doing business with the DWP.
Richard is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom July 15, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.
If convicted as charged, he could face up to 20 years in state prison.
—City News Service