Water district chief pleads guilty of scheme to steal Fresno, Merced water amid drought
He led the water district in Fresno and Merced for nearly 25 years. Dennis Falaschi, former head of the Panoche Water District in California, has pleaded guilty to stealing federal water from farms in Fresno and Merced counties. The stolen federal water was between $1.5 million and $3.5 billion, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors allege that Falasch learned that canal water was leaking from a standpipe within the district and allowed the district to open and close the pipe so it could access the water. He then began selling water privately from 2011 to 2016 from a legitimate source outside of the district, but did not report the sales on his income tax return. The financial controls at Panoche were reportedly lax, allowing staff members to use district credit cards for season passes and concert tickets. Falasche is set to be sentenced on Sept. 16 and faces a maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 fine for the conspiracy to commit water theft.
公開済み : 一ヶ月前 沿って Thaddeus Miller の Environment
The former head of a district that controls the waterways that deliver water to farms in Fresno and Merced counties pleaded guilty to stealing water, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Dennis Falaschi, 78, of Aptos pleaded guilty to two counts — conspiring to take federally owned water and filing a false tax return — from during his time leading the Panoche Water District, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
He was the general manager from 1992 to April 2015 of the Panoche district that sold water to farms of 38,000 acres or larger.
The district purchased its water from the federal government collected in the Delta-Mendota Canal, and collected drainage water, prosecutors said. The U.S. Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation regulates that canal and other waterways.
Prosecutors said Falaschi learned canal water was leaking from a standpipe within the district. Water district employees rigged the standpipe, fixing the leak but allowing the district to open and close the pipe so Panoche could access the water.
The stolen federal water amounted to between $1.5 million and $3.5 million, according to prosecutors. He was initially accused of stealing more than that at $25 million.
That fresh water was blended with reusable drainage water, prosecutors said.
Authorities said in court documents that Falaschi wasn’t the only one taking water, but did not specify who else was involved.
Falaschi then began selling water privately between 2011 and 2016, which prosecutors said was water he was getting from a legitimate source outside of the district. But, Falaschi did not report the sales on his income tax return, according to prosecutors.
The case comes as California has embarked on a years-long effort to conserve water use by passing a groundbreaking law to regulate groundwater pumping, encouraging urban users to replace thirsty lawns with more drought-friendly landscaping and ramping up water storage efforts to help the state navigate expected dry years ahead.
The state moved to reduce groundwater use after overpumping led farmers to drill deeper for water and some rural wells to grow dry. The prospect of pumping limits has worried California farmers who grow much of the country’s fresh produce.
The state controller’s office in 2017 released an audit showing the financial controls at Panoche were too lax. Staffers were allowed to use district credit cards to buy Oakland A’s and Raiders season passes, and tickets to a Katy Perry concert, among other issues that began Falaschi’s legal trouble.
A month after the audit, Falaschi left Panoche. The state attorney general’s office charged him and three other former district employees in 2018 with embezzling $100,000 from Panoche and illegally burying toxic chemicals on district property.
He was set to be sentenced on Sept. 16 before U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston, facing a maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 fine for the conspiracy to commit water theft. He also faces three years in prison and $100,000 fine for the tax charge.
The Associated Press and Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
トピック: Crime