More than eight months after former Councilman Tom Fuhrman was arrested, his case continues. Fuhrman pled guilty to multiple charges concerning abuse of his power after accepting a deal from prosecutors.
RECAP: Back in October 2014, the Menifee Councilman was arrested while at a Wheatfield Park Softball game by official investigators of the Riverside County District Attorney’s office. The councilman was then transported to the South West Detention Center and charged with a felony count of conflict-of-interest, four misdemeanor counts of influencing governmental votes, and two misdemeanor counts for code enforcement violations at his ranch. His bail was set at $5,000.
At the time Fuhrman was running for reelection when accusations surfaced of misconduct in regards to events and businesses located at the Wooden Nickel Ranch, Fuhrman’s property in Menifee. Fuhrman was reportedly running a horse boarding and RV storage business out of his ranch without a proper and required business license.
According to the charges, Fuhrman is believed to have used his position as councilman to influence a governmental decision, which aided his financial interests.
Reports say that the ex-councilman took part in a vote in June 2011 against renewing a contract a law firm had with the city regarding handling code enforcement issues. Fuhrman is said to have had prior negative dealings with the law firm in connection with some code enforcement issues raised about his ranch. At the time of his vote, the firm was actively looking into his ranch. These events led to charges against the former councilman, with the latter being a felony.
The District Attorney's Office stated that they had begin looking into the councilman about a year prior to his arrest as a result of complaints received regarding other votes the councilman took part in between 2011 and 2013.
PRESENT- Tom Fuhrman struck a deal with prosecutors and waived his right to have a jury present at his trial. He pled guilty to all four misdemeanor counts and the felony. According to the Superior Court Judge hearing his case, John Monterosso, Fuhrman is said to be sentenced on July 27, 2016, during which time he will have to complete at least 100 hours of community service and remain a law abiding citizen.
In exchange for pleading guilty, if the ex-councilman successfully completes his hours of community service and does not break any additional laws, the prosecution will drop the felony conflict-of-interest charge and he will be placed on unsupervised probation for a period of two years.
After the two-year probationary period, Fuhrman will become eligible for the dismissal of his misdemeanor charges if he applies for it. The prosecution stated that the decision to offer a plea was a direct result of Fuhrman’s past history as a law abiding citizen.
Two of the misdemeanor counts he was charged with were in connection with city votes the ex-councilman took part in, which directly affected the way he administered his ranch. One was related to regulations on the disposal of manure on ranches housing more than 10 horses. Another was in regards to the growth of a storage facility.
