A former U.S. Border Patrol supervisor from El Cajon who illegally installed a hidden camera inside a women’s restroom at the Chula Vista station has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
Armando Gonzalez, 47, was allowed to remain free Dec. 14 on $50,000 bond, but must surrender by Jan. 22 to begin his sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez.
A former U.S. Border Patrol supervisor from El Cajon who illegally installed a hidden camera inside a women’s restroom at the Chula Vista station has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
Armando Gonzalez, 47, was allowed to remain free Dec. 14 on $50,000 bond, but must surrender by Jan. 22 to begin his sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez.
“I’m shocked by the facts in this case,” said Benitez, saying that Gonzalez committed “a violation of trust” with his “egregious conduct.”
Gonzalez’s attorney, Gretchen von Helms, told Benitez her client suffered from post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) from his work. Gonzalez lost his 20-year job after he pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a federal officer and seven misdemeanor counts of video voyeurism.
“He became emotionally detached…and it led to this behavior,” said von Helms. “This wasn’t done for sexual purpose.”
“Mr. Gonzalez, I don’t know about your PTSD,” said the judge. “I don’t understand how any of that relates to putting a camera in a bathroom which his subordinates use.”
All seven victims were federal employees who were photographed changing clothes or using the restroom from July 2013 to Jan. 9 when a Border Patrol employee spotted the camera in the floor drain.
Two victims said they feared that Gonzalez or someone he could have shared the videos with could place them on the Internet. Von Helms said Gonzalez did not share the videos and he destroyed the computer’s hard drive.
Funeral burglars get 12 years in prison
Twelve years in state prison was handed down Dec. 14 to two burglars who researched online obituaries and broke into homes of family members of deceased people while their loved ones were at the funerals.
Six victims spoke to El Cajon Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein and three others had letters read for them about the anguish caused by David Andrew Valenzuela and Jennifer Lynn Martinez, both 34. Martinez is also known as Jennifer Alarcon.
A restitution hearing will be held Jan. 13 to see if they should pay for the losses of the items stolen. Some of the property was found by El Cajon Police, sheriff’s deputies, and San Diego Police. Valenzuela was arrested May 15 and Martinez on June 10, and they received seven and six months credit in jail respectively.
Five houses which were burglarized were located in El Cajon and two were in La Mesa. One was in Casa de Oro, another in the Navajo area, and the others were in Paradise Hills, Allied Gardens, and Linda Vista.
Valenzuela and Martinez pleaded guilty to 13 counts of burglary, attempted burglary, and unlawfully using stolen credit cards. Deputy District Attorney Jalyn Wang said the couple could each have received a maximum 20 year term.
Jury to decide on mentally competent case
A judge Dec. 16 confirmed a mental competency trial on Feb. 23, 2016, for Salem Zora, 50, who is accused of stabbing his wife to death in 2013 in the couple’s El Cajon home.
Zora will have a San Diego Superior Court jury decide whether he is mentally competent to stand trial in the death of Gankil Wijdan, 39, on June 2, 2013. If they find him competent, he will then have a criminal trial for murder.
Another judge committed Zora to Patton State Hospital in 2013, but doctors found he had regained his mental competency and was returned here. He remains in jail.
