Patterson Irrigator | Your Local Paper - Plea deal likely in DeMartini theft case

December 2, 2008 Patterson, CA

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Plea deal likely in DeMartini theft case

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Written by John Saiz \| Patterson Irrigator
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
“You could never track it back to West Park, but I felt they were behind the YouTube and other stuff.” — Jim DeMartini Stanislaus County Supervisor The young woman accused of using County Supervisor Jim DeMartini’s identity to steal close to $10,000 looked ready to strike a deal Friday. Essapour Serena Essapour, 22, of Turlock appeared in Stanislaus Superior Court, where Deputy District Attorney Dawna Frenchie said the defense recently approached her with the hope of striking a plea bargain. The announcement comes on the heels of DeMartini winning 72 percent of the votes in the District 5 election June 3. DeMartini did not mince words when he said his victory and the possible deal are linked. “The elections are over,” DeMartini said. “Whoever was paying (her attorney) doesn’t need her anymore. It was never really about her — it was about me.” Exactly what a deal might entail has not been made public. Calls to the district attorney’s office and the defense team were not returned. Essapour is expected back in court July 10, where more information should be revealed. Essapour is being represented by Los Angeles-based attorney Mark Geragos, who is best known for representing pop star Michael Jackson and convicted murderer Scott Peterson. When Geragos got a chance to question DeMartini on the stand in April, he repeatedly asked questions about DeMartini’s relationship with Essapour. DeMartini has denied any sexual relationship with the defendant. “I never did anything wrong,” DeMartini said. DeMartini He believes that the case and an anonymous attack video that briefly appeared on the video-sharing YouTube Web site were linked to his opposition of a proposed a 7.5-square-mile industrial center that developers want to build on and around the Crows Landing Air Facility. The last time the county supervisors reviewed the project, DeMartini was the only supervisor who wanted to ditch the developers. “You could never track it back to West Park,” DeMartini said, “but I felt they were behind the YouTube and other stuff.” He hopes that Essapour receives some jail time and the three felonies she’s accused of go on her record. “I wouldn’t like to see a plea deal at all,” DeMartini said. “I’d like to see her go to jail. Essapour is being accused of using the supervisor’s personal information to open credit accounts. She got to know DeMartini though her work with the Stanislaus County Republican party. They struck up a friendship, and DeMartini eventually loaned her a $6,500 down payment in June 2005 and co-signed a car loan. Prosecutors assert that Essapour used the information on the car loan application to get credit in DeMartini’s name. To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 314 Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.