Former Port of L.A. police chief sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for tax evasion
The former chief of police at the Port of Los Angeles was sentenced to two years in federal prison Tuesday for concealing over $1.1 million in income and making false statements to the FBI.
Ronald Boyd, 58, of Torrance, was also ordered to serve three years’ supervised release and pay $305,054 in restitution, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.
Boyd pleaded guilty in February as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, who agreed to drop federal corruption charges, according to U.S. District Court records. He also admitted to a misdemeanor count of failure to file a complete income tax return in 2011.
Boyd, who was police chief at the time, was accused of lying to federal investigators about accepting a bribe in exchange for securing and steering a port contract for a smartphone app, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. The app, PortWatch, was created to allow port workers, city officials and the public to report on criminal activity, emergencies, and operations at the port.
Boyd, who retired from the Port of L.A. on Nov. 29, was indicted in April.
According to the U.S. District Court federal indictment, Boyd and two business partners formed BDB Digital Communications, which entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with the company developing the app. They agreed to receive a share of the company’s revenue by marketing and selling a similar app, MetroWatch, to other government agencies. Boyd was expected to receive about 13.33% of the revenue, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Boyd admitted to lying to federal investigators after telling them that he had no financial stake in MetroWatch, according to the indictment.
Federal prosecutors said he failed to disclose more than $1.1 million in income on his 2007 to 2011 tax returns from At Close Range Inc., a Torrance-based security company that he operated.
In February, Boyd’s attorney, Vicki Podberesky told The Times the resolution was fair.
"It clearly represents that Chief Boyd did not act with any corrupt intent," Podberesky said.
Federal prosecutors said he hid his links to a software company that he helped to obtain a contract with the port.
Boyd, who once worked as a valet to singer Ray Charles, defrauded the city "by means of bribery and kickbacks" and provided confidential information about the port to the software vendor, according to court papers.
He was accused of helping the software developer obtain a contract with the city of Los Angeles while forming an undisclosed joint venture with the company and then lying about it in an interview with federal agents.
In a related case, the ex-assistant chief of the Los Angeles Airport Police Department was sentenced last month to probation. Brian Walker pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor tax fraud count and paid about $10,000 in restitution.
According to federal prosecutors, Walker did not report income from his work with At Close Range Inc., a Torrance security company partly owned by Boyd.
Prosecutors wrote that although Walker reported that he made about $150,000 in 2012, his income was actually "substantially higher."
Walker stepped down from his job Sept. 12.
Courtesy LA TIMES/Daily Breeze
11 окт 2016
