A Tale of Two Tapes

Now, thanks to the feds, Carona finds himself, his wife and a mistress added to that colorful list of characters. This was no surprise to a few of us. The sheriff had turned the OCSD into two parts whorehouse, three parts crime scene, shaped by more than a dash of self-aggrandizement.

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is no Carona fan, but he was never going to touch the sheriff. Both men share the same top adviser: Schroeder. Indeed, Rackauckas' employees ignored direct evidence of Carona's potential complicity in a kickback scheme involving a convicted murderer/businessman who threw the sheriff a birthday party/fund-raiser involving $40,000 in illegal contributions. The sheriff claims it was a coincidence that he wrote a letter to Sacramento legislators encouraging them to grant the man a state monopoly on a proposed laser gun that could safely end car chases. Like its inventor (the murderer), the gun was a fraud.

Jack Gould

Carona

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• Mike Carona
• Don Haidl
• Mike Schroeder
• Police
• Trials

It's frightening to think of how much worse Carona's corruption would have been if it weren't for the likes of federal prosecutors Brett Sagel and Ken Julian and FBI agent Tony Alston. But they likely would have never gotten to this point if it hadn't been for the second sensational Haidl-made tape: The elder Haidl surreptitiously wore a wire when he was alone with Carona this summer. We can only pray this one doesn't involve sex, too.

Both sides agree that one three-hour-plus segment is key. In fact, Schroeder told me he's listened to the tapes (there are two others) and concluded the contents prove the sheriff is innocent. If this is true and not just shameless spin, I challenge Carona and his advisers to do something in their power: play the tapes for the public now.

Show us the feds are liars, as you claim. Show us that you didn't try to get Haidl to perjure himself about the bribes. Show the OCSD that I've been wrong about you all these years.

We're waiting.