Why did Supervisor Glover submit a letter asking Prosecutors and the Court to grant leniency for a violent criminal who put citizens and cops in harm’s way?
On the night of July 12, 2016, a dangerous repeat criminal from Pittsburg went on a violent crime spree across Martinez. The 33 year old brandished a gun, and threatened to murder two women on Ferry Street. He then assaulted a young man, and attempted to rob people at gun point. Martinez PD pursued and arrested this armed thug as he fled Martinez in his car. He was arrested and held on $740,000 bail. According to allegations in the filed police report and criminal complaint.
Based on the court records and police reports, this is a terrible guy, accused of committing terrible crimes. We will refer to him as The Defendant. With his previous convictions, the Defendant is a danger to society that cops and prosecutors work hard to keep off the streets. But Supervisor Federal Glover of Contra Costa disagrees. Supervisor Glover gave the Defendant a “Get Out of Jail Free” card to play in court.
With the ink barely dry on the arrest report, using official letterhead from his County office, Supervisor Glover wrote a letter of support asking for leniency for the Defendant from the Prosecutors and Court.
There is no need to use the Defendant’s name here, but his case can be retrieved by press and fact-checkers from the Criminal Court Clerk referencing #5-161295-1.
Politicians should not use their official influence to urge prosecutors and law enforcement to lower or drop charges against their violent criminal buddies.
Federal Glover is the boss of the DA and Prosecutors. He approves their budgets and grants them raises. And the District Attorney Mark Peterson and the Prosecutor’s Association have both endorsed Mr. Glover for his re-election. This cozy circle of political back scratching may lead to a dangerous criminal put back on the streets to harm more civilians and put more cops in the line of fire.
The Defendant’s lawyer and the County Prosecutor are negotiating plea deals at this time. The letter from Glover could help put a violent criminal back on the streets sooner than he deserves. The results of the plea dealings are scheduled for court on November 9th. Conveniently one day after the election.
A Prosecutor, whose union has endorsed Glover, and whose DA boss is a Glover supporter, gets a letter of support to be lenient on Supervisor Glover’s friend. All to put a dangerous man back on the streets. This is a terrible conflict of interest. Prosecutors should not have to balance Justice, and granting shady political favors. We have enough crime in Contra Costa without a Supervisor putting criminals back on the street.
Let’s compare the DA’s criminal complaint against the Defendant, with the comments written by Glover asking the County for leniency:
GLOVER: It is with a great deal of pleasure I provide you with this letter of support
DA: Defendant did commit a felony, a crime which would result in death and great bodily injury
GLOVER: I have known Defendant and his family for a number of years.
DA: Defendant did willfully and unlawfully commit an assault with a firearm
GLOVER: Hopefully you will have the opportunity to consider the Defendant’s positive and responsible history.
DA: the Victim was in sustained fear for her safety and the safety of her immediate family.
GLOVER: Defendant possesses the very qualities to enable a person to follow through and succeed in his future endeavors.
DA: The threats were so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the victim a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution.
DA: did by means of force and fear take personal property
GLOVER: Thank you for taking my comments into consideration.
Mr. Glover, What about writing a letter supporting the three VICTIMS of this violent incident? Why not write a letter to commend the Martinez Police Officer who arrested the bad guy? How about writing a letter to the District Attorney and the Prosecutors thanking them for their hard work putting away bad guys? Instead, Mr. Glover, you wrote a letter to propose leniency for one of you violent acquaintances.
And to the DA, Please advise your Deputy Prosecutors to not give any special favors for Supervisor Glover, and to focus on Justice. Also, How many other times has this happened, where Supervisor Glover used his office and authority to ask for a free pass for criminals?
Law enforcement, prosecutors, and the DA should let the public know what they think of an elected supervisor writing a “get out of jail free” letter for a violent man. Government officials should protect us from violent bad guys, not push them back into our neighborhoods.
It is no wonder that the vast majority of Contra Costa law enforcement support Glover’s opponent Anamarie Avila Farias. The police from Pinole, Hercules, Martinez, Antioch, PLUS the Contra Costa Deputy Sheriffs all see the need to replace Glover with a Supervisor that respects public safety.