Retired Sheriff's Deputy Pleads No Contest To Embezzling $450K
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy pleaded no contest Thursday to embezzling about $450,000.
Joseph Dyer, 56, pleaded no contest to one count of a public officer crime, according to Deputy District Attorney Amy Pellman Pentz.
The money came from towing fees intended for the city of La Puente.
Dyer is facing three years in state prison when sentenced May 31 by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus.
Dyer supervised the impound program at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Industry Station and collected, and kept, towing fees from residents between June 2001 and December 2007, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Dyer's wife, Lydia, 47, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false tax return and was immediately sentenced to one year of probation.
The couple repaid the sheriff's department $554,588, which included the loss along with $100,000 toward the costs of the investigation, according to the District Attorney's Office.
They also paid just over $44,000 in back taxes to the state's Franchise Tax Board, according to the District Attorney's Office.
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