A former Santa Rosa Junior College police officer admitted Wednesday he stole $287,000 from campus parking machines, striking a deal with a judge that will limit his prison sentence to four years.
Jeffrey Holzworth, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft and 11 counts of receiving stolen property as part of an agreement with Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite that specified his maximum punishment.
His attorney, Joe Passalacqua, said he will ask for probation at his May 29 sentencing hearing because of Holzworth's age and lack of a prior criminal record.
"He's taken full responsibility," Passalacqua said.
Prosecutors are expected to urge prison. Under state law, Holzworth could be out in two years. He remains free on bail.
The veteran police officer was accused of stealing coins and currency from campus parking machines during the last seven years of his 28-year career.
Holzworth came under suspicion when other officers reported seeing him with bundles of $1 and $5 bills and collecting money from the machines at odd hours.
He was arrested in November 2012 after a three-week investigation in which detectives followed him with a GPS tracking device.
Holzworth admitted the allegations Tuesday at the start of a preliminary hearing to determine if a trial was warranted.
Prosecutors went ahead with their case against his wife, Karen Holzworth, 50, who is charged with being an accessory and faces possible jail time.
Santa Rosa police Detective Mark Azzouni testified Karen Holzworth deposited stacks of $1 bills and withdrew equal amounts in larger denominations. Money was stashed all over the couple's Santa Rosa house, including the bedroom, kitchen and garage, Azzouni said.
Azzouni said Karen Holzworth admitted knowing the money was stolen in a phone call to her husband in jail that was recorded by detectives.
In that call, police overheard Karen Holzworth say she was worried about getting in trouble, Azzouni said.
But Karen Holzworth's lawyer questioned the meaning of the conversation. Attorney George Boisseau also pressed detectives on how they could be sure the money she deposited was stolen. He said she made tips from bingo and won money gambling.
Azzouni said he couldn't trace it to any legitimate source but admitted he didn't know exactly where she got it.
"It's not illegal to deposit ones into an account, right?" Boisseau asked the detective.
Thistlethwaite found that under the circumstances it was safe to assume the money came from her husband's theft.
She ruled there was enough evidence to charge Karen Holzworth with being an accessory and with a felony count of receiving stolen property. But she reduced another charge to a misdemeanor and dismissed a fourth felony.
"It's a reasonable inference the money came from money Mr. Holzworth was stealing hand-over-fist from SRJC," Thistlethwaite said.
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