Claremont Insider: Alvarez Returns (to Court)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Alvarez Returns (to Court)

Three Valleys Municipal Water District board member Xavier Alvarez is back in the news today. Wes Woods II writes that the Los Angeles District Attorney's Public Integrity Division is charging Alvarez with three felony counts:

CLAREMONT - Three felony charges have been filed against Three Valleys Municipal Water District Director Xavier Alvarez in connection with accusations that he had the district pay for his ex-wife's insurance.

Alvarez, 50, was charged Friday with misappropriating public money, insurance fraud and grand theft of personal property, said Sandi Roth, a prosecutor with the Los Angeles County district attorney's Public Integrity Division.

Roth said Alvarez - who represents south Pomona on the water board and was elected in 2006 - placed his ex-wife, Juanita Ruiz, on his insurance from Jan. 24, 2007, to Oct. 31, 2007.

The water district - which provides medical insurance to its directors, their spouses, children and other dependents - paid $4,100 in premiums, Roth said.

"I don't have (the date) when they divorced," she said. "But they are divorced and have been for years."

The felony counts continue a turbulent period for Alvarez. He was fined and sentenced to probation in July for violating the Stolen Valor Act, which criminalizes false claims of military valor.

According to the article, Alvarez will be arraigned at the Pomona Courthouse on October 21st and could face up to five years in prison if convicted.