The former Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education trustee who faces charges for swindling $52,000 from a leading South County nonprofit and using campaign donations for personal expenses appeared in court today, only to delay criminal proceedings to next month.
Dressed in a pressed suit and a soft purple button-down shirt, his defense lawyer by his side, Francisco Dominguez, 51 of Gilroy, appeared staunch and business-like Tuesday afternoon in the San Jose Hall of Justice.
His lawyer, Esau Herrera, a Salinas-based private criminal attorney, discussed the case privately in the court’s hallway with prosecuting Deputy District Attorney John Chase and decided to hold off on Dominguez’ plea until a deal can be reached.
“Because of these new developments in this case, the defense suggestion is to wait,” Herrera said to judge Daniel Nishigaya.
A stoic Dominguez waited until moments before his case was handled to step into the courtroom. Arms crossed, he sat in the hallway alone. He declined to comment for this story.
The next plea hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. July 29 in San Jose.
“At that time, he’ll either accept the plea bargain or we’ll schedule a further plea,” Chase said.
Dominguez was previously charged in 2012 for felony theft for defrauding the South County Collaborative, a Gilroy charity, as well as an international engineering firm of tens of thousands of dollars in his role as a hired consultant.
Then in May 2013, District Attorney Jeff Rosen slapped Dominguez with four fresh accusations of grand theft and perjury for using about $3,000 from his 2010 GUSD school board campaign account for nonpolitical purposes such as concessions at Dodger’s games and dozens of pit-stops for bagels, fast food and coffee.
All of his charges combined, Dominguez could land himself in jail for up to eight years, although Chase doubts the embattled former Board of Ed. trustee will actually be given that much time. Chase said the DA’s office plans to merge all six charges together for future criminal proceedings, making a strong case for his prosecution.
“When you’re at the concession stand at a Dodger’s game, and you’re looking in your wallet and you see the debit card that goes to your campaign account, it should give you a pause. But I guess for him, it didn’t. He pulled it out anyway,” Chase said.
Dominguez, the sole proprietor of his own company, DZ Consulting, resigned from the GUSD Board of Education Nov. 9, 2011 after allegations that he embezzled from a local nonprofit came to light.
The DA’s office launched an investigation in early June 2011 following reports by the Gilroy Dispatch, which in May 2011 broke the news that Dominguez had come under fire for “systematic” embezzlement.
