Felony charges have been refiled against a former LA County Assessor, an appraiser and a tax accountant by the LA County District Attorney's Office Tuesday.
There were a total of 78 felony charges refiled against former Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, his chief appraiser and an Arizona tax consultant alleging they engaged in a public corruption scheme where Noguez was bribed in return for favorable property assessments and unprecedented access to high-level executives, according to a press release.
Bail is set at $1.16 million for each defendant.
The press release from the LA County DA's office writes that Noguez, whose real name is Juan Renaldo Rodriguez, Ramin Salari and Mark McNeil together face one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft and 14 counts each of misappropriation of public funds and grand theft. If convicted as charged, Noguez faces a possible maximum sentence of 36 years in state prison, Salari faces 59 years in prison and McNeil faces 22 years in state prison.
The alleged crimes took place from 1999 to 2011 and resulted in the loss of more than $10 million for the County.
Noguez alone faces an additional three counts of accepting a bribe, two counts each of embezzlement by a public or private officer and perjury by declaration as well as one count of public records violation. Salari faces seven counts of grand theft, nine counts of embezzlement by a public or private officer and 23 counts of bribing an executive officer. Noguez and Salari also are jointly charged with two counts of grand theft, according to the press release.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday, and are scheduled to return on Aug. 12.