Posted on Tue, Apr. 18, 2006
www.mercurynews.com

JURY FINDS EX-SAN CARLOS MAYOR GUILTY OF FRAUD, CONSPIRACY.

A San Mateo County jury today found former San Carlos Mayor Mike King guilty of charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and one felony count of presenting a false claim with the intent to defraud.

King, 64, put his head in his hands when the six man, six woman jury read the verdict. King's attorney, Chuck Smith, consoled his client when the verdict was read.

King was found guilty of conspiring to defraud the South County Fire Protection Authority out of more than $13,000. King advised Daly City political consultant Margaret `Peg' Collier, 68, to submit phony invoices in order to be reimbursed for work she performed on the Measure I campaign.

In March 2004, Collier submitted two invoices totaling $13,320 for personnel consulting work, claiming she helped seven firefighters find new jobs in the fall of 2003, according to the San Mateo County district attorney's office.

The Fire Protection Authority laid off the firefighters after voters rejected Measure I, a proposed per-square-foot parcel tax to fund firefighters, in November 2003.

Collier admitted she never tried to find jobs for the laid-off firefighters. However, she testified that King told her to bill the fire authority the way she did in order to be reimbursed quickly for promotional work she had done on the campaign.

King testified that he faxed Collier a "template" invoice demonstrating how to bill the consulting work. He also said the invoice he faxed Collier indicated the names of the laid-off firefighters and a billing price of $185 per hour.
King will be sentenced on June 9.

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc.