A former Santa Rosa Junior
College police officer was sentenced Thursday morning to four years in prison
for stealing more than $100,000 from campus parking machines.
Jeffrey Holzworth, 52, pleaded
guilty in April to one count of theft and 11 counts of receiving stolen
property between 2005 and 2012 as part of a plea agreement for the four-year
term.
Holzworth was sentenced on the
grand theft charge and an enhancement alleging a loss of more than $100,000.
The concurrent sentences for the receiving stolen property charges were stayed.
Holzworth had faced 12 years
and four months in prison and the amount he actually stole is believed to be
around $286,000, prosecutors said.
Sonoma County Superior Court
Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite told Holzworth, "You were greedy. It got too
easy and it became your lifestyle."
The judge said she believes in
rehabilitation and restitution, but she told the 28-year veteran police officer
his actions "go beyond the pale."
Holzworth apologized to the
college, its police force and to the public.
"I'm truly sorry and
remorseful and I ask for a second chance," he said.
Deputy District Attorney Amy
Ariyoshi said Holzworth used the money to travel to Las Vegas two or three
times a year and maintain a lifestyle his police salary would not provide, all
at the expense of the junior college.
Ariyoshi said Holzworth stole
the money while in uniform and on duty.
"It took planning, thought
and commitment to do it everyday," she said.
"Well deserved, well
earned," she said of the four-year sentence after the hearing.
Matt McCaffrey was SRJC's
police chief for only a month when the thefts were discovered. McCaffrey said a
police sergeant noticed many quarters in the console of Holzworth's car and
discovered cash when he looked inside it on a trip he and Holzworth were taking
to a training event.
The investigation began on Nov.
1, 2012, and Holzworth was arrested on Nov. 28, 2012.
In a statement McCaffrey read
to the court, he said Holzworth disgraced his badge and the reputation of the
SRJC Police Department and law enforcement in general, and exploited the
public's trust for his own personal gain.
"My officers in the field
have to hear snide comments about taking money from (parking) permit
machines," McCaffrey said.
An insurance company has
reimbursed the junior college about $286,000 and Holzworth was ordered to
reimburse the insurance company.
"This amount only accounts
for the cash that was laundered through the banks Jeff used and that there is a
record of," McCaffrey said.
He said parking revenue in the
machines was $215,805 in the 12 months before Holzworth's arrest and revenue
was $428,554 in the 12 months after his arrest, an increase of about 98 percent
despite a 4 percent decrease in enrollment from 2012 to 2013.
McCaffrey said the thefts were
not an accident, but were a "cold, calculated and premeditated
crime."
The reimbursement from the
insurance company was used to purchase new parking machines with upgraded
technology and to hire another officer to make sure there are two officers
present when revenue is collected from the machines under a "buddy system,"
McCaffrey said.
Parking at the junior college
costs $4 a day and $60 a semester, he said.
Defense attorney Joseph
Passalacqua asked the court to sentence Holzworth to probation and county jail
time with community service.
Passalacqua said there was no
criminal activity during 21 of Holzworth's 28 years as a police officer. He
submitted 20 character reference letters to the court on his client's behalf.
"He knows he violated a
higher standard and he has the stigma of being a 'dirty cop.' He has to live
with that and of being a convicted felon," Passalacqua said.
He said his client brought his
troubles on himself and has accepted responsibility "from day one."
"He wanted to spoil his
daughters. It became a habit. It was too easy," Passalacqua said regarding
the thefts.
Holzworth's wife Karen was
arrested on Jan. 31, 2013, and was charged with being an accessory and
receiving stolen property. A motion to dismiss the charges against her will be
heard on June 19.
The Sonoma County District
Attorney's Office alleges Karen Holzworth deposited small bills taken from the
parking machines in several banks and withdrew it in larger bills.
