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UPDATE: Child sex group’s ‘horrific’ practicesA federal agent said today that a like-minded group which included San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Goossens and 51 others shared “very disturbing and graphic” images of children depicting bestiality and bondage. Calling the evidence “horrific,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jorge Guzman told UncoveredSLO.com that 26 children, aged 2 to 17, have been removed from “dangerous environments” by appropriate family and child services officials.
104 Comments added to this post FBI busts sheriff’s deputy Goossens for child pornBy DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE
San Luis Obispo County Deputy Sheriff Bryan Goossens was arrested Monday by federal agents as part of a widespread roundup of suspected members of a child pornography ring. Two other county men also have been named and face charges.
Officials said the suspects used the Internet to trade photographs.
Goossens, who caused a five-car accident in Atascadero in July, was one of more than 50 people in southern and central California whose arrests or indictments are being announced later this morning by a multi-agency task force in Los Angeles. (Additional details will be posted on this site later this morning.)
40 Comments added to this post AG Brown ‘clarifies’ muddy medical pot lawBy DANIEL BLACKBURN
California’s top prosecutor has dribbled out the maiden set of formal guidelines to help law enforcement interpret and apply medical marijuana laws, and San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Pat Hedges says he has found in them an ounce of redemption.
Attorney General Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown’s final draft of his long-awaited rules for ensuring “the security and non-diversion of marijuana grown for medical use” is circulating among top state and local law enforcement officials. The new Justice Department guidelines are the first definitive words on the subject by a state attorney general, and are written nearly a dozen years after California voters approved Proposition 215, the “Compassionate Use Act.”
38 Comments added to this post Divorce allows peek between EFI’s sheetsBy DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE
It took an acrimonious divorce and a protracted asset scrap to finally address the big question for investors in Paso Robles’ Estate Financial Inc.: Where did their money go?
Now, EFI principal Karen Guth has answered at least part of that question in the midst of her contentious court battle over marital assets with ex-husband and former partner, Charlie Applebaum. By her own admission, Guth utilized hundreds of thousands of dollars in investor money to capitalize her personal holdings.
57 Comments added to this post ‘Protect, Serve … And Sell T-Shirts’By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A San Luis Obispo police officer peddles custom imprinted T-shirts, sometimes while on duty, as a federal bankruptcy court considers his twin Chapter 7 petitions.
Officer Christopher Charles Chitty apparently runs the cash business from the home he shares with his wife, Lisa Solomon, Paso Robles’ chief of police.
Chitty said Sunday that the business, Trick Tape, no longer exists. An investigation by UncoveredSLO.com suggests otherwise.
251 Comments added to this post Judge ices EFI fund property sale proceedsBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A federal judge presiding over Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) bankruptcy hearings declined Tuesday to authorize disbursement of funds from a pending sale of investment property from the troubled lender’s portfolio.
U.S. District Court Judge Robin Riblet instead ordered proceeds from the sale placed in a segregated account to allow trustees time to weed through a mountain of documents.
152 Comments added to this post Enough already! Dalidio entertaining offerBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Ernie Dalidio is abandoning a contentious, 16-year effort to develop his property along Highway 101 south of San Luis Obispo, and is negotiating an extended option agreement with a group of local investors.
Dalidio declined comment Monday afternoon, but sources told UncoveredSLO.com, “Dalidio has had enough and just wants to get on with his life.”
A local company, Promenade-Two, has made an unspecified offer to Dalidio, according to reliable sources.
55 Comments added to this post FBI agents seize deputy sheriff’s computerBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputy is the target of an FBI investigation which has included a search of the deputy’s house and the seizure of his computer.
Bryan Goossens, a 20-year employee of the sheriff’s department, was placed on paid administrative leave July 11 by Sheriff Pat Hedges.
107 Comments added to this post Brennler, Luna won’t run againBy KAREN VELIE Atascadero Mayor Mike Brennler won’t seek a second term on the Atascadero City Council because of health concerns.
And council member George Luna said he will also retire from the council after two decades of public service. 427 Comments added to this post Sheriff’s deputy slams four parked carsBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputy on administrative leave drove into four parked vehicles before flipping and rolling his pickup truck in a July 19 mishap.
Deputy Bryan Goossens was northbound on Traffic Way in Atascadero at 8:50 a.m. when the chain-reaction collision occurred.
Currently on paid administrative leave in an unrelated matter, Goossens was not ticketed or charged by Atascadero police officers.
133 Comments added to this post Fencing Paso Wine Festival may risk city deedBy DANIEL BLACKBURN
A six-foot-high chain link fence erected around the perimeter of Paso Robles City Park for the city's annual Wine Festival appears to contravene a key component of the benefactor’s original deed requirements.
Event sponsors and officials, however, say they remain unconcerned and plan no changes.
30 Comments added to this post Fairgoers attacked, allege official cover-upBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Three people were assaulted Wednesday night as they exited a shuttle bus after attending a Mid-State Fair concert. The victims contend fair and police officials are downplaying the incident to avoid negative publicity.
Following the John Mayer concert, the trio was about to board a shuttle bus at the fair’s main entrance when two young men boisterously pushed their way to the front of a nearby bus line, shouting “PR13,” a gang designation.
261 Comments added to this post Coast Bank’s substantial losses expose bad loansBy KAREN VELIE
Coast National Bank is operating at a loss after projecting first-quarter profits, partly because of $9.3 million in non-performing loans.
Bank officials originally reported earnings of $168,000 for the first quarter of 2008, down from $291,000 for the same period in 2007. Bank officials recently reported an adjustment in Coast’s financial statements portraying an after-tax loss of $733,000, and cited questionable loans to developers as one reason.
21 Comments added to this post Discrimination complaint filed against countyBy KAREN VELIE
Eight Probation Department employees have filed a lawsuit against the county of San Luis Obispo claiming they were harassed and discriminated against because of their race and gender. The plaintiffs, all Hispanic women, accuse the department of five causes of action including allegations of prejudice in promotions, training, workload, and supervisory requirements in the lawsuit. 85 Comments added to this post State agency lifts Hurst Financial’s permitBy THE EDITORS
A variety of accusations were filed today by the state Department of Corporations against Atascadero lender Hurst Financial and its owner, James Miller, and the agency has revoked Hurst’s permit to sell securities.
Miller is one of several San Luis Obispo County hard money lenders on shaky ground because of questionable business practices.
Mary Ann Smith, the department’s senior corporations counsel, charged in the complaint that Miller violated at least five of the permit’s terms.
76 Comments added to this post Law reported closing in on EFI principalsBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Local and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) and a criminal case is said to be “moving forward” even as a battalion of interested parties scrap over control of the failing hard money lender in federal bankruptcy court.
Federal Secret Service agents, who had commenced a parallel probe into the Paso Robles’ company’s practices, apparently have decided to halt their examination of alleged fraudulent management of EFI. The Secret Services’ interest in the case stemmed from the agency’s charge to protect U.S. financial institutions.
189 Comments added to this post Medical pot shop owner facing 100 yearsBy DANIEL BLACKBURN
Charles C. Lynch sits in his South County home this weekend awaiting the start of a trial that poses for him the threat of a century in federal prison for doing what he thought was the right thing.
The parents of a San Luis Obispo County youth suffering from bone cancer agree with Lynch, as does a legion of supporters.
Not agreeing? San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Pat Hedges, and the federal government.
109 Comments added to this post San Luis Trust CEO says extensive exam ‘routine’By DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE
San Luis Trust Bank’s (SLTB) chief executive officer believes that an ongoing bank exam is “routine” but insiders suggest the number of examiners is extraordinary.
Brad Lyon, who also serves as president of the San Luis Obispo bank, said this week that at least nine examiners from the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) are combing through records at the bank for what he termed “purely statutory reasons.”
23 Comments added to this post UncoveredSLO.com is your watchdogDo you enjoy reading UncoveredSLO.com’s in-depth reporting? Do you like the media watchdog function we provide and reader commentaries that follow? Now is your chance to help us continue. Support us today. We thank the many people who have contributed to UncoveredSLO.com, either by advertising, writing a check, or by hitting our PayPal button (see yellow button at top right of this page for info on the proceeding options). And we thank those who soon will contribute. – The Editors.
Thank you for your support. 52 Comments added to this post Covert attack mounted on trauma center planBy KAREN VELIE
Physicians and officials at French and Arroyo Grande hospitals have mounted a concerted but furtive effort to halt plans for an advanced (level-two) trauma center at Sierra Vista Hospital.
The behind-the-scenes maneuvering to torpedo Sierra Vista’s plan started only days after representatives of all three hospitals voted publicly to approve it. The proposed level-two trauma center is the centerpiece of a program prepared by a county consultant who contends the facility would save lives and attract more physicians to the county.
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