DA PACHECO ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS TO
ATTORNEY AND INVESTIGATIVE MANAGEMENT

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, June 21, 2007: District Attorney Rod Pacheco announced promotions to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office attorney and investigative management team. Senior Deputy District Attorneys Quinn Baranski, Carolos Monagas, and Michael Silverman were promoted to Supervising Deputy District Attorney filling vacancies left by recent judicial appointments. Vern Horst was promoted to Assistant Chief Investigator following the promotion of Chief Investigator Victor Greene.

Quinn Baranski graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1987 with a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies and Political Science and from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1992.

Baranski began his career with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in 1999 after civil practice and working for the Maricopa County, Arizona District Attorney's Office and United States Attorney's Office in Northern California. During his career, he has prosecuted 41 felony trials and 4 misdemeanor jury trials. His trial assignments include Homicide, Gangs, Major Crimes, Drug Court, Superior Court, Hemet Court, and Preliminary Hearings at both the Southwest Justice Center and the Riverside Superior Court.

Baranski will supervise Felony Trials in Riverside.

Carlos Monagas attended local schools in Riverside and after graduation received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993 and his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1997. He immediately began his career as prosecutor with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office after law school.

His trial assignments include Sexual Assault and Child Abuse, Gangs, Domestic Violence, Narcotics, Welfare Fraud, and Grand Theft Auto.

Monagas is an active member of the Riverside community, serving as an attorney coach for the Riverside Poly High School Mock Trial Team and as a Board member on the Inland Counties Legal Services which provides free legal representation to indigent residents of the Inland Empire.

All of the Monagas siblings are attorneys and the only three Monagas in the California State Bar.

Monagas will be in charge of the Misdemeanor Trial Team.

Michael Silverman was born and raised in New York. He attended the University of Chicago, Brown University, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree, and New York University School of Law, where he earned his law degree.

Silverman joined the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in 1991. During his 16 year career, he has prosecuted more than 85 jury trials with a 96 percent conviction rate. His assignments include General Felonies, Real Estate and Major Fraud, Career Criminal, Auto Theft, Officer Involved Misconduct, and Juvenile Court.

Notable cases Silverman has prosecuted include People Sawkow and Honore who were convicted of numerous counts of robbery and attempted murder on police officers after a string of bank robberies committed in the Inland Empire that culminated in a shootout with Moreno Valley police. Sawkow and Honore were three strikers whose crimes date back to 1968. Honore was sentenced to 94 years to life and Sawkow was sentenced to 684 years to life. Sawkow received an additional 50 years to life for assaulting Silverman in court during closing argument.

The case of People v. Norman Stark was a check kiting scheme involving more that $1.5 million in bad checks that resulted in the loss to First Bank of Colorado of more than $3.9 million. Stark owned a Kia and Mazda dealership in the Coachella Valley. His assets were seized and liquidated to pay restitution.

Silverman convicted Marc Anthony Sturdivant after he scammed more than $200,000 from unsuspecting business owners. Sturdivant was sentenced to 501 years to life.

Silverman was named Special Prosecutions Prosecutor of the Year in 2003. He will supervise preliminary hearings, filing, and the Banning court.

Vern Horst was promoted to Assistant Chief Investigator of the Bureau of Investigation following Victor Greene's promotion to Chief Investigator.

Horst's law enforcement career spans 22 years including active duty in the United States Marine Corps and as a police officer in the City of Orange, the City of Stanton, and the City of Newport Beach. He later joined the Riverside County Sheriff's Department where he worked as a patrol deputy, the Gang Enforcement Team, the West County Narcotics Task Force, homicide detective, and sergeant a the Riverside Hall of Justice and Temecula Police Department. He worked his way up through the ranks to Lieutenant. Horst was hired by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in 2006 as a supervising investigator.