by Erik Jorgensen, Courtroom Correspondent
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| Jeffrey and Karen Holzworth's Feb. 20, 2013 arraignment. |
Former campus cop Jeffrey Holzworth pleaded
guilty to all charges of stealing $286,000 from Santa Rosa Junior College parking
funds before his April 2, 2014 preliminary hearing. Holzworth accepted a plea
deal for all 11 charges of receiving stolen property and one charge of grand
theft by embezzlement, in exchange for a maximum four years in prison.
Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite accepted Holzworth’s
plea deal, then continued the preliminary hearing for Holzworth’s wife Karen,
facing charges of receiving stolen property and acting as an accessory.
The former 28-year veteran SRJC District
Police held sole responsibility, without oversight, of collecting money from
parking permit machines at all SRJC campuses. Prosecutors had bank records
going back to 2005 of Holzworth’s suspicious cash deposit.
SRJC president Dr. Frank Chong said, “We have
learned from this experience and have put safeguards in place to prevent this
from occurring again.” Chong said Doug Roberts VP of finance and business
services, obtained fraud insurance and SRJC has been reimbursed for the
documented loss.
Co-worker Sgt. Stephen Potter observed bundled
bills in the center console of Holzworth’s private vehicle and told his
superiors. New SRJC District Police Chief Matthew McCaffrey contacted to Santa
Rosa Police detective Mark Azzouni, who obtained two search warrants issued to
Azzouni on Nov. 13, 2012 to place GPS trackers on Holzworth’s vehicles and
check his credit report. Azzouni wrote in his affidavit, “It is my belief that
Holzworth was removing monies from the parking permit machines and erasing the
machines’ memory with [his] laptop computer,”
Before Holzworth’s
April 2 preliminary hearing began, prosecution and defense attorneys conferred
in Thistlethwaite’s chambers. At 10:36 a.m. Holzworth pleaded guilty to all felony
charges, in exchange for a possible maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Passalacqua said
outside the courtroom he will argue for probation. Holzworth has no prior
criminal history, took full responsibility for a non-violent offense and “a
contributing member to society and SRJC for some 28 years, until this last
unfortunate financial situation came up.”
The preliminary
hearing against Karen Holzworth continued without a break after Holzworth’s
plea deal. Azzouni testified
detectives found cash stashed “in
all parts of the house;” in the kitchen, bedroom, garage, attic and crawlspace.
Records from two
banks going back to 2005 showed both Holzworths regularly made
deposit-withdrawals of large amounts of small bills exchanged for larger bills.
After a two-hour
recess, Azzouni testified about 22 recorded jailhouse phone calls between the
Holzworths and played. In one recording, “You told me to stop doing it, I
didn’t listen. It’s all on me,” Holzworth said.
“Yes, but I knew
about it so doesn’t that make it on me, too?” Karen said.
Boisseau said the
recorded calls only showed Karen knew Holzworth stole from his job. “The
prosecution’s case is built on a house of sand. They need more [proof] than
just knowledge and participation.” Boisseau said the spouses had not been
getting along for years except for living in the same house, and Holzworth had
affairs with co-workers and went “to hookers.”
Thistlethwaite ruled
Karen deposited cash with knowledge Holzworth “stole hand over fist from SRJC.”
Karen continues to trial for one count of acting as an accessory, but
Thistlethwaite dropped one of Karen’s three felony charges of receiving stolen
property and reduced one to a misdemeanor.
The next step in Karen’s
trial is a filing of information hearing 9 a.m. April 14.
Holzworth’s
sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 29 in courtroom 2.
“I’m hoping we
can put this terrible episode at the college behind us,” Chong said.
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