How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKEPORT, Calif. — A former Lake County Code Enforcement officer convicted of bribery was sentenced to a year in jail and two years of probation on Monday afternoon.
Judge J. David Markham handed down the sentence to Antonio Chavez Anguiano, 37, of Clearlake.
Chavez Anguiano was arrested July 31, 2024, on felony charges of extortion, soliciting/accepting a bribe and grand theft, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana for sale, as Lake County News reported last summer.
The District Attorney’s Office originally charged him with 12 felonies including an executive officer accepting a bribe, extortion and grand theft, and a misdemeanor for possession of marijuana for sale.
Following an Oct. 9 preliminary hearing, Chavez Anguiano was held to answer on all of the charges. However, in an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office, he entered a nolo contendere plea in April to just two felony charges — two counts of being an executive officer accepting a bribe — with the rest of the charges dismissed.
In a nolo plea, the defendant accepts a conviction but does not admit or dispute the charges.
Chavez Anguiano’s attorney, Angela Carter, said the bribery amount was $2,000, with another $2,000 that was to have been paid.
Chavez Anguiano was prosecuted for accepting a bribe from a cannabis grower. The victim in the case worked with law enforcement, who caught the transaction on video, Carter said.
Family seeks leniency in sentencing
On Monday afternoon, Chavez Anguiano was accompanied by about 25 members of his large family who came to offer their support for him and ask the judge to give him probation rather than a prison sentence.
Judge Markham said he was inclined to follow the recommendation from the Lake County Probation Department that found that the case presented an unusual circumstance and that Chavez Anguiano had no previous criminal record.
During the sentencing hearing, Carter had been prepared to have 28 people speak in support of giving Chavez Anguiano a more merciful sentence. However, that number was reduced to just four when it became apparent that Markham was inclined to give the lighter sentence recommended by probation.
Those who spoke included Chavez Anguiano’s cousin, Paula Thomas; mother-in-law, Sonya Garcia; brother, Edher Chavez; and wife, Alecia Chavez.
All of them spoke of Chavez Anguiano’s devotion to his family, his role as the key bread winner, his parenting to the blended family of five children — ages 3 to 16 — that he and his wife share, and his admission that he was wrong.
“Antonio has taken responsibility and I feel he understands what the consequences may be,” said Thomas.
His family members also spoke of the hardship his wife and children would face if he was incarcerated for two years in state prison.
In their statements and in court documents it was reported that not only did Chavez Anguiano immediately lose his job after his arrest but that his wife was fired from her job at the county of Lake, making it difficult to make ends meet.
When Garcia said her son-in-law going to prison would have negative impacts on this family, Senior Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg asked her if Chavez Anguiano was teaching his children the difference between right and wrong.
“He is,” Garcia said.
Borg followed up by asking if incarceration would show that you cannot commit crimes and not face consequences.
Garcia said no, that Chavez Anguiano has explained to his children that he’s made a mistake.
His brother, Edher Chavez, said the family relies on Chavez Anguiano for everything.
“My brother’s a good man. We’ve had a rough life,” Edher Chavez said.
He said his brother has never been in trouble and is not violent.
Edher Chavez noted, with emotion rising in his voice, “We all make mistakes.”
He also guaranteed accountability. “We will all be there to hold him accountable, all his family.”
Alecia Chavez said her husband realizes he made a mistake and has done everything he can to make up for it. He’s been working long hours at a minimum wage job to make ends meet.
When Carter asked if she can support their children while he’s in jail, Borg objected but Markham overruled him and allowed Chavez to answer.
“I’m going to do my best,” she said.
She said the crime doesn’t define her husband or who he is to their family. “Our kids need him and so do I, and so does our entire family,” she said.
Prosecution, defense offer arguments; judge gives decision
Borg, in his closing statements, said people commit crimes and sometimes the consequences are unfortunate, having a ripple effect across the lives of others.
He said he felt Chavez Anguiano already was getting a break. Borg also wasn’t convinced about the reasoning behind giving him a reduced sentence because of not having a previous criminal history.
People in a position to extort bribes as government officials are unlikely to have a previous record, Borg said.
“This is a betrayal of trust,” said Borg, noting the trust put in people who hold such jobs.
Such criminal activity negatively impacts trust in the government. “That’s kind of a big deal right now,” Borg said.
“The bottom line is this, he may be a great dad and all that, but he didn’t care about that when he committed these crimes,” Borg said. “He chose to do this. This is a choice he made.”
Borg said there needed to be significant consequences, and he believed Chavez Anguiano should be imprisoned.
In her arguments, Carter emphasized that Chavez Anguiano made a mistake, admitted it and accepted a plea offer as early as he could.
She said he took full responsibility from the first moment he spoke with her, adding he’s one of the most remorseful defendants she had sat next to at the defense table.
“He’s a man with a big heart and there’s no question he made a mistake,” said Carter, noting that he was always ready to accept whatever punishment that came his way and that she didn’t believe there was any risk of him reoffending.
In his decision, Markham noted, “This was a close call.”
While he understood Borg’s points, the judge said that in the end he did find unusual circumstances and decided that rather than send him to prison he would place Chavez Anguiano on felony probation for two years, which resulted in some gasps and tears from family members.
Markham continued, “Although it was a close call on probation, it was never a close call on jail time.”
Altogether, he sentenced Chavez Anguiano to 364 days in the Lake County Jail, but he will only be required to serve half of that time. He will receive seven days’ credit for time served at the time of his arrest, another six days’ credit for good behavior, bringing the total jail sentence to 176 days.
Carter told Lake County News after the sentencing that Chavez Anguiano had been braced for a two-year prison sentence.
Markham ordered that he turn himself in at the jail on Oct. 8.
Editor’s note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated Alecia Chavez lost her job with the Lake County Office of Education. It was in fact the county of Lake.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
