A former chief of the Manzanita Tribal Police Department who pleaded guilty to taking more than $300,000 from the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation as part of a scheme to sell police department membership to dozens of unqualified individuals was sentenced in San Diego federal court Monday to a combination of custody, home confinement, and probation.
Anthony Reyes Vazquez, 52, served as the department's chief from 2012 to 2018, during which time federal prosecutors say he sold fake badges to people seeking to become members of the department in order to obtain permits to carry concealed firearms.
Prosecutors say Vazquez and other tribal police officers recruited wealthy people from the Los Angeles area to become so-called officers.
Despite those individuals having little to no law enforcement experience, the U.S. Attorney's Office said they paid anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000 in "donations" to join the department.
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Those recruited people -- known as the "VIP Group" -- were not expected to perform any law enforcement services and many had never visited the Manzanita Band reservation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
More than $700,000 in "donations" were solicited throughout the scheme, with Vazquez keeping about $300,000 out of those payments, prosecutors said. He also paid kickbacks to recruiters and paid himself around $2,000 per month as reimbursement for travel expenses from his home to the reservation.
The case led to federal charges against two other men in Los Angeles for buying or selling the phony badges. Both have pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced to probation, with the other defendant expected to also receive a sentence of probation.
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Vazquez pleaded guilty in 2021. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel sentenced him to 10 months of home confinement, a dozen consecutive weekends in custody, and three years of probation. He will also have to pay $328,795.31 in restitution to the tribe.
In sentencing papers, prosecutors recommended a sentence of six months in custody and six months of home detention, citing that "Vazquez quickly acknowledged his wrongdoing" and "has concretely demonstrated his remorse, his acceptance of responsibility, and his desire to pay restitution for the full amount of `donations' that he had illegally kept for himself."
