LAKEPORT — A former Lakeport Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2015 commander, who resigned in February amid an arrest and allegations that his service record was falsified, was sentenced to three years in state prison on Aug. 22.
Robert L. Deppe, 57, pleaded guilty in June to felony petty theft with three prior similar convictions stemming from an incident in which he stole $800 from his brother-in-law and allegedly replaced the amount with phony bills.
Deppe had faced two counts for incidents earlier in the year, one involving the petty theft and another regarding allegedly passing a bad check on his wife”s account. As part of the plea agreement, the bad check charge was dropped.
The Lake County District Attorney”s Office also charged Deppe with two special allegations for first-degree burglary convictions in 1991 in Santa Barbara County, which could have made a felony conviction in Lake County a third strike, according to senior deputy district attorney John Langan.
Several mitigating factors led to the DA”s Office offering Deppe a deal that removed the prior strike convictions, Langan said.
The office learned that Deppe made a full confession and was cooperative with law enforcement, and that his wife covered the reported bad check and paid back her brother for the stolen money, Langan said.
Langan also believed Deppe”s defense could have successfully petitioned the court to have one or both of the prior strikes thrown out of consideration, in part because the convictions were about 20 years old.
The DA”s Office also received information from Deppe”s wife that the family wanted leniency, which also led to the offer to Deppe, Langan said.
After the defendant accepted the offer to plead guilty to felony petty theft, the DA”s Office learned the request for leniency “was not the sentiment of the entire family,” Langan said.
The office had no legal standing to withdraw the offer at that point, but the brother-in-law, who initially disapproved of the agreement, eventually supported the potential three-year prison sentence, according to Langan.
“He got a tremendous break and he will not get a break like that again if he re-offends in this county,” Langan said.
Deppe”s attorney, J. David Markham, offered no comment on the plea agreement or the circumstances surrounding the deal when contacted by the Record-Bee Monday.
Deppe appeared before Judge Andrew S. Blum on Aug. 22 for sentencing. The defense requested probation, according to court records, while the prosecution asked for the upper term of three years.
Blum sentenced Deppe to three years in state prison, according to court records, and Deppe was remanded into the custody of the Lake County Sheriff”s Office.
Several VFW Post 2015 members attended Deppe”s sentencing hearing, “just to see what was going to happen with that” and not on behalf of the post, adjutant Kirk Macdonald said.
Deppe had been post commander at the time of his arrest but soon resigned after post officials asked Deppe about the arrest and reports received by the post that he had falsified his service record.
In March, Deppe declined to comment on the service-record allegations when contacted by the Record-Bee at the time reports surfaced.
The VFW, at the state and national levels, is looking into the validity of Deppe”s reported service record, Macdonald said. “It has yet to be determined,” he said.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
