The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Conference Center > General Discussion Forum

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old September 28, 2001, 02:03 PM   #1
Dean Speir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 14, 2000
Posts: 155
Gabe Saurez Pleads Out On Fraud Charges

Former Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges
Quote:
A former Santa Monica police officer has pleaded guilty to Workers Compensation fraud, money laundering and grand theft and will begin serving a year-long jail sentence for the crimes next week.

Gabriel Saurez, a decorated 12-year veteran of the SMPD, will report to Los Angeles County Jail to begin serving his sentence on Monday as part of a plea agreement reached last week in Los Angeles County Criminal Court.
Despite some assertions here earlier this year that this was all bogus, it now is certain that it was not. They had built a very strong case against Gabe, enough so that he felt that it was in his best interest to take a reduced plea.

Aside from the unhappy aspects of this, it will be interesting as to whether Saurez is now a "prohibited person," as it is a sentence of year (not "a year and a day"), and I understand that the charges to which he pled out were misdemeanors.

Gonna be kinda tough to earn a decent living as a "gun tactics trainer" if he cannot legally handle a firearm.
__________________
Dean, jus' visiting from The Gun Zone
Dean Speir is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 02:16 PM   #2
Gary H
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 26, 2000
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,267
Hate to see this. I hope that he is going to jail for something that he did and not just for being politically incorrect.
Gary H is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 04:04 PM   #3
STRIDER
Member
 
Join Date: March 12, 2000
Location: Prescott, Arizona
Posts: 58
Dean,
Last time I checked, Grand Theft was a Felony.

Gabe Suarez is going to jail BECAUSE HE IS A CROOK.
Fraud, Money Laundering, GRAND THEFT.

HE PLEAD GUILTY so as to get a lighter sentence.

He has been a blot on our industry, and now, thankfully, he has been removed.
My hat is off to the Santa Monica PD for taking the time and effort to make a strong enough case against him.
The wheels of justice may grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine.
Our industry breathes a huge sigh of relief as the infamous Gabe Suarez gets his just desserts.
-Mad Dog

Here is the whole article:

Former Officer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges

By Teresa Rochester

Sept. 27 -- A former Santa Monica police officer has pleaded guilty to Workers Compensation fraud, money laundering and grand theft and will begin serving a year-long jail sentence for the crimes next week.

Gabriel Saurez, a decorated 12-year veteran of the SMPD, will report to Los Angeles County Jail to begin serving his sentence on Monday as part of a plea agreement reached last week in Los Angeles County Criminal Court. Saurez, who recently resigned from the force, also was sentenced to five years probation.

Saurez, his wife Cheryl Saurez and Officer Jason Comer pleaded not guilty in April to charges of conspiracy, Workers Compensation fraud and grand theft. Saurez also faced two additional fraud charges.

Like her husband, Cheryl Saurez agreed to plea guilty during last Friday's hearing. She was ordered to serve one day in jail and also was sentenced to five years probation.

Comer's charges were dropped in June, and he remains on paid leave pending the conclusion of an administrative investigation, according to Police Chief James T. Butts Jr.

As part of the agreement, the charges of conspiracy against the Suarezes were dismissed, as were the two additional counts of Workers Compensation filed against Gabriel Saurez, said DA spokesperson Sandi Gibbons.

The Saurezes paid a $100 fine and $112, 250.01 in restitution on Friday, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Ellen St. John.

Chief Butts said Saurez's plea was a testament to the "hard work, time and effort that the risk management and our criminal division officers have put into this case.

"The good thing is the City of Santa Monica has received full restitution for all wages that were paid in this fraudulent claim," Butts said. "The jail sentence that was imposed by the judge sent a strong message that this type of misconduct will not be tolerated by the City of Santa Monica,"

Gabriel Suarez allegedly worked as a gun tactics trainer while receiving Workers Compensation for a slip and fall accident in the SMPD's locker room in 1999. Cheryl Suarez allegedly received payments for work done by her husband through a company she never worked for. The dismissed charges against Comer were based on allegations that he received and disbursed money for Saurez.

The Saurez case stemmed from a long-term investigation of Workers Compensation fraud within the police department launched late last year by the department, the District Attorneys Office and the State Department of Insurance.

The investigation also has resulted in charges filed against Officer Richard Robert Brulato, who pleaded not guilty in June to two counts of Workers Compensation Fraud.

Butts said the investigation is "definitely ongoing.

"We have other cases we are actively looking at and investigating. Fortunately at this point those cases are few," said Butts adding that they would be vigorously pursued.


Copyright ©1999, 2000, 2001 surfsantamonica.com. All Rights Reserved.
Link to article: http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_s...ud_Charges.htm
__________________
Armatissimi y Liberissimi!
STRIDER is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 04:36 PM   #4
Dean Speir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 14, 2000
Posts: 155
Thanks, Strider, but one my original sources on this who had been keeping me apprised of the situation since last October when the investigation was starting to conclude, told me it was five misdemeanors. We shall see, #1, and, #2, who the hell cares what Kevin has to say about this? He's had a stiff one for Gabe for some time now, so there's a personal agenda at work there.

And finally, I know that Intellectual Property is a concept unknown to many here, but the reason I posted the link to the story, was to honor that "Copyright."
__________________
Dean, jus' visiting from The Gun Zone
Dean Speir is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 04:48 PM   #5
1031
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 15, 2001
Location: SW USA
Posts: 163
I concur with Dean above. If someone has a personal problem with Gabe, that is not worth mentioning. Gabe and Mad Dog had some personal issues prior to all of this, that is well known, and I don't think it is right to bring it up on a public forum by trashing the guy when he is not here to defend himself. Gabe has always been a good guy. It sounds as if he took workers compensation and they felt it was not warranted. That is not exactly a black and white crime, it could be a misunderstanding since there is a lot of room for interpretation on what is an injury and what is not. The fact that it is grand theft only means he took more than like $400, which is easily understandable if he was getting weekly checks that add up very fast over months and years. Perhaps Gabe stepped on the wrong toes and made someone in admin upset and they decided that he no longer had an injury. Who knows.

One thing I do know is that once Gabe gets out of the prison, he will be an even better and more sought after teacher. Doing a year in the penn tends to give someone credibility when they are teaching self defense. That is nothing to be proud of, but it is a fact.
1031 is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 05:02 PM   #6
MAD DOG
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 13, 1998
Location: Arizona.
Posts: 853
Let me clear up a misconception/posting error.
Strider works here, I forgot to log him off before posting the post above under his name. I only now realized it.
Sorry about that.

I posted the link to the original article to satisfy any copyright issues.

As far as my "stiff one" for Gabe, well, we have proof and documentation that Gabe was involved in receiving stolen goods across state lines. Goods that were stolen from me.
How stiff would YOU get? Sounds like Santa Monica had reason to be a bit stiff themselves. Fortunately, they had a big enough stick to smack him with.

As far as Dean Speir goes, who the hell cares what he has to say about this?
He brings up the subject of Gabe's criminal conviction, and then gets frosted when I discuss it? Hypocritical, but hardly surprising considering the source.

1031,
As far as black and white crimes go, any doubt as to the criminality of Gabe's acts was satisfied when he pleaded guilty.
I hope that he emerges from jail fully rehabilitated.

QED.

Mad Dog
__________________
BOYCOTT COSTCO!!
http://www.tacticalforums.com
MAD DOG is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 05:09 PM   #7
Don Gwinn
Staff Emeritus
 
Join Date: March 9, 2000
Location: Virden, IL
Posts: 5,917
Let's have a little higher signal-to-noise ratio here, folks. This is the home of the much-vaunted "High Road," after all.
__________________
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don Gwinn: Chicago Gun Rights Examiner
Don Gwinn is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 05:20 PM   #8
1031
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 15, 2001
Location: SW USA
Posts: 163
I would state that just because someone pleads guilty does not mean they did wrong. There are a lot of reasons to plead guilty over fighting a charge.
Is OJ innocent because he plead, and was found, Not Guilty? I use this as an example that pleading or being found guilty or not guilty does not mean much. Our justice system is not exact, people plead guilty all the time for many reasons other than actually being guily of the charges.

I am not here to defend Gabe or argue about this, I just wanted to state this to give the guy some benefit of the doubt, since I doubt any of us really know the details of this case. If anyone does knows details that are public record, please divulge so we can at least bash the guy with some knowledge of what hapened.
1031 is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 05:41 PM   #9
Dean Speir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 14, 2000
Posts: 155
Quote:
I posted the link to the original article to satisfy any copyright issues.
Doesn't make it, Kevin… it's theft of Intellectual Property as you should damned well know.

Quote:
Dean ... brings up the subject of Gabe's criminal conviction, and then gets frosted when I discuss it?
Cut the crap, Kevin… I knew Strider was involved with your enterprise, but I had no idea that you were parading here as him. Glad you decided to "out" yourself.

#1: So you posted someone else's material in its entirety under someone else's identity, then grouse about Gabe being involved in some theft from you… and call me hypocritical?!?

#2: I don't have any agenda as far as Gabe goes… you do.

And, Don, with all due respect, it's kinda hard to justify any claim of "high road" here with such total disregard for copyrighted material. If Kevin wants to do that on his own BB, fine, but you put Rich/TFL at risk by allowing the post to stand whole hog like that. It's why I was careful to excerpt the story, and provide the link.

Kevin is gleefully dancing in Gabe's blood here which is pretty disgraceful… Saurez screwed up, got caught, and now he's gonna go for it, a year or otherwise. And I don't think that any of his convictions had anything to do with Maddog Knives.

And "1031," your moral approach is commendable although it's approaching "denial." But the facts are that the authorities had something like 1300-1500 pages of evidence and testimony against Saurez, so this wasn't any misreading of the law or simple misunderstanding.
__________________
Dean, jus' visiting from The Gun Zone
Dean Speir is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 05:59 PM   #10
Dennis
Staff Emeritus
 
Join Date: November 23, 1998
Location: a small forest in Texas
Posts: 7,079
All,

Calm yourselves or take it to e-mail.

Post so families can read it or don't post it here.
Dennis is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 07:13 PM   #11
STRIDER
Member
 
Join Date: March 12, 2000
Location: Prescott, Arizona
Posts: 58
Dean,

Do a little homework, please.

I resent the statement by you that I am a sock puppet for Kevin. For the record I am not. Compare my posts and some of Kevin's and will become evident in no short order.

I have been posting here and elsewhere since long before I came to work with Kevin.

There are several of us who use the same computer at our shop.
Anyone who has enabled cookies on their PC should be well aware of how Kevin could post under my screen name.
__________________
Armatissimi y Liberissimi!
STRIDER is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 07:48 PM   #12
MAD DOG
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 13, 1998
Location: Arizona.
Posts: 853
Wow. What a thread.




Gleefully dancing in whatever red fluids are flowing at the moment,

Mad Dog
__________________
BOYCOTT COSTCO!!
http://www.tacticalforums.com
MAD DOG is offline  
Old September 28, 2001, 08:28 PM   #13
Double Naught Spy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 8, 2001
Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX
Posts: 12,714
Okay, I don't care about the petty infighting. All I want to know is how to work the system for more than $100,000 and if I get caught, have some idiot DA or similar bozo just want to try me for multiple misdemeanors instead of a felony. That would almost make crime worthwhile. Sorry, that just sounds so hokey to me. "100K? Yep, misdemeanor. Okay, press the charges..."

As for the intellectual property thing, there are some ways around it. If TFL is profiting from the use of the information in a $$ manner, then it might be a problem. However, if there were trouble on the copyright and TFL was not profiting but presented the information as educational and gave proper credit to the source (as apparently happened here seeing that even the copyright sign shows up!), then it might not be copyright infringement. Similarly, you can photocopy books without violating the copyright so long as the information is for educational or personal use (and there are additional limiting circumstances).
__________________
"If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011
My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange
Double Naught Spy is offline  
Old September 29, 2001, 12:59 AM   #14
mrat
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 7, 2000
Posts: 863
Wow this is a hot topic.

Well I don't know Gabe personally but a friend of mine did a lot of training with him and said he is excellent. I think the whole thing is sad.
mrat is offline  
Old September 29, 2001, 06:24 AM   #15
ArmySon
Staff Alumnus
 
Join Date: April 14, 2000
Posts: 2,926
After reading Kevin's posts for the past year, I do not believe he would ever 'hide' under someone else's identity when making a post. It was an honest mistake.

Dean

As for us putting Rich in danger with copyright infrindgement, I thought you would know better about copyright laws.

US Code : Title 17, Section 110
Quote:
performance of a nondramatic literary or musical work otherwise than in a transmission to the public, without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage and without payment of any fee or other compensation for the performance to any of its performers, promoters, or organizers, if -
  • (A) there is no direct or indirect admission charge; or
  • (B) the proceeds, after deducting the reasonable costs of producing the performance, are used exclusively for educational, religious, or charitable purposes and not for private financial gain
ArmySon is offline  
Old September 29, 2001, 09:32 AM   #16
Dean Speir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 14, 2000
Posts: 155
Thank you for your response…

Son…

I have no doubt that it was a mistake, and I certainly understand how it could have happened with a "community computer." Others, however, cannot reasonably be expected to have divined that it was really Kevin posting under Strider's identity… it actually looked like he was quoting "Maddog" in the preamble. (And where did that "Sock Puppet" thing come from? Is Strider reading-disabled?)

As for Title 17 U.S.C. Sections 107-110, I do know better, and rather than debate it with me, I suggest that the matter be referred to Rich's counsel for an opinion. It is TFL that would be at risk, not you or I.
__________________
Dean, jus' visiting from The Gun Zone
Dean Speir is offline  
Old September 29, 2001, 09:53 AM   #17
Dennis
Staff Emeritus
 
Join Date: November 23, 1998
Location: a small forest in Texas
Posts: 7,079
Gabe Suarez had a good reputation with many of his students.

Gabe Suarez apparently pled guilty to certain charges and will begin a
period of incarceration.

Some people rejoice, others feel sad.

MadDog accidentally, apparently in haste, posted under Strider’s user
name, noticed the error, and (having no way to correct the original entry)
subsequently explained on each thread what happened.

The subject of copyright infringement is a legal discussion for Rich and
the Staff.

In my opinion, further discussion will not further TFL’s stated goal of
responsible firearms ownership; therefore, I’m closing both this thread
and the subjects above.

Rather than start another thread on these subjects, if someone has a
problem with this, contact me by e-mail.

This thread is closed.
Dennis is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.09329 seconds with 7 queries