STOCKTON, Calif. — Former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva pleaded no contest to a conflict of interest charge on Monday, and, as part of the plea deal, all other allegations against him have been dropped.
Silva is facing a maximum sentence of six months in jail. His sentencing date has been set for July 29.
Some of the charges that were dismissed included grand theft, money laundering and embezzlement. Silva also agreed to pay the nearly $20,000 he's accused of wrongly directing to the Stockton Kids Club. That money will go to another charitable organization.
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Allen Sawyer, Silva’s attorney, described the back and forth between prosecutors and his client as initially adversarial. But Sawyer spoke well of the DA's office on Monday.
"It's been an ordeal for the last three years and I'm sure some people in the public expected a different result," Sawyer told ABC10. "There's a lot of people that knew him that were close to the Boys and Girls club, the Kids Club of Stockton that didn't think that was accurately portrayed.
"But I understand why they made the decisions at the time with the evidence they had. And I'm glad they looked at it since and re-evaluated the case."
Silva and his attorney maintain he did not steal or hurt anyone.
"The DA's office was partly right today," admitted Sawyer. "They made an allegation that they substantiated, and Anthony admitted he made a mistake. But there were other allegations that are not true, that were not accurate, that were not proven. So, the public needs to give him the benefit of the doubt in that regard."
In addition to the possible jail time, Silva would also be subject to the standard condition of probation.
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