A former general manager for a Central Valley water agency is avoiding prison after stealing millions of dollars worth of federal water.
Dennis Falaschi, the former general manager for the Panoche Water District, was ordered on Monday to pay $10,000 in fines.
Flashback: Falaschi, 78, pleaded guilty in federal court in May to conspiring to steal federally owned water.
- While he ran the Panoche Water District from 1992 to 2015, he took at least $1.5 million to $3.5 million from the Delta-Mendota Canal.
- When federal prosecutors initially charged Falaschi two years ago, he was accused of stealing over $25 million worth of water from the Delta-Mendota Canal and faced further accusations of lofty salaries and fringe benefits for the water district.
- When he accepted the plea deal back in March, federal prosecutors said Falaschi did not directly profit from the water theft.
The big picture: U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Thurston sentenced Falaschi to five years probation, including six months of home detention to go along with the fine.
- Federal prosecutors pushed Thurston to sentence Falaschi to a year in prison, and the federal probation department recommended that he should be locked up for six months.
- But Falaschi’s defense attorneys said in court that he has had a stroke and has a diabetic kidney condition, which ultimately swayed Thurston to keep Falaschi out of prison.
What they’re saying: While Falaschi defended his actions, he also apologized for the theft in court.
- “We were forced to do something to deal with that toxic water problem,” Falaschi said, according to a report by McClatchy. “It was the wrong way, unfortunately.”
- Falaschi’s attorney reportedly argued in court that Falaschi was trying to block toxic discharge from getting back into the San Joaquin River.
The backstory: Falaschi’s theft allegedly started in 1992, when he learned that an abandoned drain near the Delta-Mendota Canal was leaking water into another canal that was owned by the Panoche Water District.
- Falaschi directed an employee to modify the standpipe to allow water to be taken directly from the Delta-Mendota canal on demand.
- He also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return, which stemmed from privately selling non-federal water legitimately from 2011 to 2016 and not reporting the income on his tax return.
