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| Plea deal reached in supervisor ID theft case |
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| Written by John Saiz | Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 12 July 2008 | |
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“I’d want to say a lot, but I’ll stick with the ‘no comment.’” — Serena Essapour Pleaded no contest to charges of ID theft “She was absolutely guilty. This whole thing was politically motivated.” — Jim DeMartini District 5 supervisor,identity theft victim MODESTO — The 23-year-old Turlock woman accused of stealing county supervisor Jim DeMartini’s identity entered a no contest plea Thursday.  Essapour The sentence was worked out as part of a plea deal with the district attorney’s office.  DeMartini DeMartini figures the way the case was defended was an attempt to smear his name. “She was absolutely guilty,” DeMartini said. “This whole thing was politically motivated.” He suspects his opposition to a proposed 7½-square-mile industrial center in Crows Landing is behind the perceived conspiracy. DeMartini has been a consistent critic of the project, and when supervisors voted 4-1 to move forward with plans by developer PCCP West Park in April, DeMartini cast the lone dissenting vote. He did not say specifically who he thinks hired Essapour’s defense team. “Whoever paid (defense attorney Mark) Geragos did a good job of covering up,” DeMartini said. Essapour got access to DeMartini’s personal information after he co-signed a car loan for her. During court proceedings, Geragos questioned DeMartini repeatedly about his relationship with Essapour. Both Essapour and DeMartini have denied they were romantically involved. After the case against Essapour began in 2006, the defense requested several delays for various reasons. On June 6, three days after DeMartini won the District 5 election with more than 80 percent of the vote, prosecutor Dawna Frenchie told the court that the defense had approached her to make a deal. She said it was the defense’s first attempt to reach an agreement. Usually, such deals occur earlier in court proceedings. Defense attorney Pat Harris said the team decided to strike a deal because going to trial would have been an “ordeal.” He said his client had a difficult year and had suffered “character assassination.” He said his law firm had been willing to negotiate a deal since it started on the case. When she was asked directly to elaborate on the case and its outcome, Essapour declined. “I’d want to say a lot,” she said, “but I’ll stick with the ‘no comment.’” Comments
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hopefully she can get through the sentencing and eventually put this behind her.