Trial confirmation for former insurance agent John Ford was scheduled this morning. Jury trial was scheduled for March 16. Ford resolved his case today.
Ford had already waived his right to a preliminary hearing. There are multiple victims.
Ford was charged with 14 counts. Thirteen of those counts are embezzlement or grand theft by embezzlement and one count is for petty theft. 12 are felonies and two counts are misdemeanors.
Ford entered a guilty plea to one count of PC 503, embezzlement. The rest of the counts were dismissed with a Harvey reservation. Ford agreed to full restitution for all victims. He is eligible for probation as he has no prior felony convictions.
The People do not have any agreement regarding "jail time," said Deputy District Attorney Candace Myers who appeared in court today for the People. "Mr. Ford agrees not to practice insurance sales in California for the period of probation. He has forfeited his license. She added the felony conviction will show up in other states" during a background check.
Thomas Mulder, victim for Counts 1 to 4 was the only one in court today and is opposed to the plea. Mulder spoke at the last hearig as well and he already has a civil judgement against Ford.
Explaining to Mulder that Ford cannot be sentenced twice for the same crime and that there is criteria to grant probation, Judge Christopher Wilson said, "Your strong feelings don't apply to me treating Mr. Ford differently than anyone else." Judge Wilson said that the case would be referred to probation for a report and Mulder would have input he can give probation.
"If I see something that justifies greater penalty, I can reject the plea."
After court, Ford told me, "I admitted I screwed up. I lost my friends, my community." He reiterated what his attorney said in court about him finding it hard to get a job due to these charges.
Deputy District Attorney David Moutrie is the prosecutor for this case. Deputy Public Defender Ben McLaughlin is Ford's attorney. Sentencing is on April 7.
Previous posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/09/i-have-not-been-informed-of-any.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/09/john-ford-charged-with-same-14-counts.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/08/former-insurance-agent-john-ford-waived.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/06/ten-witnesses-expected-to-testify-at.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/06/preliminary-hearing-scheduled-next-week.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/04/john-ford-arraigned-on-13-embezzlement.html?m=1
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