Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona was charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and witness tampering in a wide-ranging indictment unsealed Tuesday that also implicates his wife, his “longtime mistress” and two former assistant sheriffs...Well, that sucks. It always baffled me how he would be honored at CRPA banquets because he was a bit more liberal about scraping CCW crumbs on the floor for gun owners to scramble for. I fantasized at one such occasion, when he was being feted as a champion of RKBA, to publicly ask him if he was prepared to arrest me in front of the audience that was honoring him if I revealed I was carrying without a permit. Knowing what the certain answer would be (and mindful of the number of "pro-gun" cops at the event), I didn't see much payoff in having my life destroyed to prove an obvious point (that is, if I was truly carrying. Heavens. What kind of scofflaw radical white people-scaring extremist would actually engage in covert civil disobedience instead of just talking about it?)--and besides, it would have upset the ceremony where everyone was congratulating each other and passing out plaques over what a fine job they've done protecting gun rights in California.
The Los Angeles Times reported in 2005 that he had issued badges and concealed-weapons permits to campaign contributors without proper training or background checks.
All this aside, here's the part of this story that "really grinds my gears":
In August, Carona agreed to a settlement with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and paid a $15,000 fine after he incorrectly billed his campaign committee for thousands of dollars in non-itemized expenses.
Anyone care to explain why the FPPC economically destroyed Russ Howard's life with over $800,000 in fines over "infractions" nowhere near as serious, when he was trying to do the right thing?
[Via M.S.]
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