*CRIMINAL CASE UPDATE*
TEMECULA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO EMBEZZLING PUBLIC FUNDS THROUGH SALES OF COUNTY CELL PHONE

RIVERSIDE - A Temecula man pleaded guilty on Wednesday, June 23, 2009, to embezzling public funds through sales of county cell phones.

Raymond Figueroa Lopez Jr., 42, also pleaded guilty in a second case involving the embezzlement of money from a previous employer involving the sales of wheel chairs. Lopez, a former Riverside County employee, was arrested in February following an investigation by the Professional Standards Unit of the District Attorney's Office. Investigators found that Lopez, while employed as a communications technician for Riverside County Regional Medical Center, was purchasing Nextel cell phones paid for by the hospital but then sold by him for his personal benefit. That case was prosecuted under case number RIF148539.

The second case, RIF149292, involved Lopez embezzling in excess of $400 from another former employer, Wheel Chair City.

On Wednesday afternoon, Lopez was sentenced by Superior Court Judge James Warren to two years, eight months in state prison. The sentence was two years for RIF148539 and eight months on the crime in RIF149292.

Lopez must also pay restitution to victims in both cases, an amount which has yet to be determined by the court.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Deborah Lucky.