Alvarez guilty on all counts, loses seat on Water Board

Xavier Alvarez's days of embarrassing Three Valley Municipal Water District are officially over. About an hour ago, the elected official from Pomona was found guilty of 3 felony counts for misappropriation of public funds, insurance fraud and grand theft.

According to Deputy District Attorney Sandi Roth, a conviction of misappropriation of public funds means Alvarez can no longer be a public servant. His days as a Three Valleys Board member are over.

The news will certainly be welcome by his fellow board members, who have publicly and privately blasted him and his behavior.

The conviction came over 2 years after Alvarez signed up his ex-wife for health insurance benefits through Three Valleys, bilking thousands of dollars in tax payers money over the course of several months.

A dejected Alvarez was taken away in handcuffs after the reading of the guilty verdicts. He will remain behind bar until a sentencing hearing on October 1. Alvarez could be put away for up to 5 years in state prison, although the prosecutor said that stiff a sentence was unlikely.

"I think he should think about his misdeeds while he's sitting in jail," she said.

For a complete story, be sure to check out Wednesday's issue of the COURIER.

Xavier Alvarez trial resumes

Stay tuned for some upcoming news on Xavier Alvarez, Pomona's representative to the board of Three Valley Municipal Water District. Alvarez will be spending some more time in court this week.

Jury selection, opening statements and calling of witnesses should begin tomorrow in his trial. He has been charged with felony accounts of insurance fraud, misappropriation of public funds and grand theft.

The District Attorney has also filed a separate charge against him for perjury, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled this week. Prosecutors will try to prove that Alvarez intentionally falsified his W4 forms at Three Valley to claim that he was married. Alvarez has not been married since 2002.

For Xavier Alvarez, ignorance is bliss

Disgraced Water Board Member Xavier Alvarez spent the morning in a Pomona Superior courthouse during his preliminary hearing on charges of illegally using public funds. The elected official's defense attorney acknowledged that Alvarez knowingly signed up his ex-wife, Juanita Ruiz, for health benefits between April and November 2007.

But he argued that Alvarez was "ignorant" about what exactly defines a spouse. There was no clear definition of a spouse on the insurance sign up form, the attorney noted. Apparently, Alvarez simply didn't know the woman he divorced in 2002 was no longer his wife!

This is from the same man who used the argument that lying is a protected form of speech while fighting earlier charges of falsely claiming to have earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. He eventually pleaded guilty to those misdemeanor charges in a federal court.

When Alvarez signed Ruiz up for the benefits, he used a church certificate as proof, not the civil certificate. "Due to his religious beliefs" Alvarez thought the couple was still married through the church, his attorney argued.

Despite the alleged confusion, Alvarez never bothered to ask the staff at Three Valleys Municipal Water District if Ruiz was a legal spouse or not, according to Three Valleys staffer Kirk Howie, who testified in court. According to testimony from Michael Holguin, a DA investigator working the case, Alvarez no longer lives with his ex-wife but maintains "a friendly relationship" with her, seeing her once or twice a month.

Judge Charles Horan didn't buy into the defense's ignorance argument. "You don't need a legal definition or a bylaw dictionary handed to you to know what a spouse is," he said.

The judge scheduled an arraignment hearing for March 10. The actual trial with jury will not likely come until months after. If he is convicted on a felony count, he could be kicked off the board of directors. Three veterans attended the preliminary hearing. Afterwards, one of the men said the judge should require Alvarez to sit in a phone booth on Garey Avenue that is labeled "liar and thief."

"He is a disgrace to the military and all the men and women who served," the man said.

Not to mention the people who elected him, his fellow board members, and all the staff at the Three Valleys Municipal Water District.