LAKEPORT — A former correctional officer pleaded guilty Friday to misdemeanor charges of possession of illegal fireworks and tracer ammunition, allowing him to continue to serve in the military.
Russell “Rusty” Wright, 38, will be on informal probation until he completes 160 hours of work service and pays fines and fees of $420. He will not have to serve time in jail. Judge Arthur Mann accepted Wright”s plea.
Rich Hinchcliff, chief deputy district attorney, dropped the three felony charges against Wright, including grand theft, embezzlement by a public officer and receiving stolen property. Wright would have faced more than three years in prison.
“Wright is in the military and we don”t want to do anything to interfere with that,” Hinchcliff said.
The District Attorney”s Office alleged that Wright stole a new Taser still in its box, three sets of handcuffs and a pair of leg shackles all belonging to the Sheriff”s Office. He was also charged for possession of illegal fireworks and .50-caliber BMG tracer ammunition.
“The ammunition was illegal for him to possess even though he was a correctional officer,” Hinchcliff said.
Wright”s defense attorney, Stephen Carter, said Wright bought the tracer ammunition in another state, where it is legal, but then brought it back to California, where it is illegal. Carter said Wright pleaded guilty to the two charges because he did commit those offenses, but he maintains his innocence to the other charges.
Wright declined to comment.
While doing inventory Jan. 11 at the Sheriff”s Department armory, officers found one weapon had a part changed, converting it from semiautomatic to automatic, Hinchcliff said. The investigation led the department to secure a search warrant on Wright.
On Jan. 16, the department served the search warrant and found the Taser, handcuffs, leg shackles, fireworks and ammunition.
Mann ordered the items forfeited to the Sheriff”s Office for disposal.
“Mr. Wright is entering a plea that is consistent with what actually took place. The felony charges were never a consideration for him and are false,” Carter said. “Rusty was found with equipment related to his position with law enforcement, which he returned to former correctional officer Chad Holland. Mr. Holland inexplicably brought the items back to Rusty instead of returning them. A warrant was obtained and Rusty was found with his standard equipment, some fireworks and some ammunition from another state. Rusty is not a thief and theft charges were out of the question. He did want to resolve this right away so he could move on with his military career, which is very important to him.”
Hinchcliff said he decided to drop the felony charges because Wright has no criminal history, won”t likely break the law in the future and has already suffered punishment by losing his job.
“Because of all this he will never work in law enforcement again,” Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said he would have given the same deal to a civilian who had no criminal history.
“When it comes down to it, considered with the loss of his job, he got punished more severely than a civilian with no prior criminal convictions,” Hinchcliff said.
The office also took into account Wright”s military service.
“We didn”t think it was appropriate to do anything to ruin his military career,” Hinchcliff said.
Wright served in Iraq and is scheduled to return next year, Carter said.
Mann ordered Wright to complete the work service by Nov. 1. He scheduled Wright to return to court 8:15 a.m. Nov. 1 but if Wright finishes the work service early, lawyers may schedule an earlier court date. He waived time for sentencing.
“Law enforcement officers, including correctional officers, I firmly believe should be held to a higher duty and standard than civilians,” Hinchcliff said. “On the other hand, we try to be fair and treat everyone as fair as possible.”
Contact Katy Sweeny at kdsweeny@gmail.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
