Anonymous
By the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office
Santa Barbara County District Attorney John T. Savrnoch announced today that on April 27, 2023, Retired Santa Barbara County Deputy Probation Officer, Manuel Edward Torres, age 67, pled guilty to a felony charge of theft of public funds in violation of Penal Code section 424, occurring between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2019.
Mr. Torres also admitted an enhancement that alleged the theft exceeded $500,000 and admitted to aggravating factors that the crime occurred while occupying a position of leadership, that he took advantage of a position of trust, and that the crime involved a taking of great monetary value. Mr. Torres had previously pled guilty on August 4, 2022 to eight counts of Filing False Tax Returns in violation of Revenue and Taxation Code section 19706 for tax years 2012-2019, and was pending sentencing on those charges.
Charges were filed in this case in July of 2020, after a year-long investigation by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations. Mr. Torres was employed by the Santa Barbara County Probation Department as a Deputy Probation Officer from 1986 to July 2019, when he retired.
Shortly after his retirement, the Probation Department contacted the District Attorney’s Office after a review of financial records of the Santa Barbara County Probation Peace Officer Association (SBCPPOA) uncovered potential embezzlement by Mr. Torres, who had acted as President of the SBCPPOA for over 20 years. The District Attorney’s investigation determined that Mr. Torres was embezzling from a SBCPPOA bank account that was being funded by union dues taken out of each member’s paycheck by the County of Santa Barbara and then directly deposited by the County into the account.
The total amount Mr. Torres embezzled from the SBCPPOA from 2009 to 2019 was approximately $635,000.
Mr. Torres will return to Court on July 6, 2023 for sentencing at which time he will be sentenced to 11 years in State Prison for the theft of public funds and tax charges, and be ordered to pay restitution to the Santa Barbara County Probation Peace Officers Association, and the California Franchise Tax Board, in an amount to be determined at a hearing on that date.
Additionally, pursuant to California Government Code section 7522.72, the District Attorney’s Office is required to report the conviction of the theft of public funds charge to the Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System (SBCERS). SBCERS will proceed with an administrative action to have Mr. Torres forfeit his retirement benefits from the County of Santa Barbara earned or accrued from January 1, 2009 to June 30, 2019.
