Former county auditor gets two years; tells judge he’s ‘deeply sorry’
EL CENTRO – Minutes after being sentenced to two years in state prison Thursday on public corruption charges, former county Auditor-Controller Josue Mercado was surrounded by uniformed Superior Court bailiffs, handcuffed and escorted out to begin his incarceration.
The scene capped what is arguably a stunning downfall for a once-certified public accountant who parlayed financial expertise and highly visible community service into a successful run to be the county’s top financial official.
Mercado, who had not previously spoken publicly about the charges filed against him, did so at the invitation of Judge Poli Flores Jr.
“I just want to emphasize how deeply sorry I am for all the hurt my actions caused. I did wrong and I’m aware of the pain I caused. I’m not an evil man. I’m not a criminal,” he said in a soft voice facing the judge.
A jury on Feb. 24 convicted Mercado, 45, of El Centro, on two felony counts of misappropriation of public funds. Another jury in November found him guilty of one misdemeanor count of willful disobedience of a court order. He has not been in custody.
All the charges stem from allegations that in October 2020, Mercado entered the county payroll system over which the Auditor-Controller’s Office has control and deleted a wage garnishment stemming from court-ordered spousal support.
The sentencing decision was between a state prison term and probation that would allow Mercado to avoid incarceration, Flores explained. Because the charges on which Mercado was convicted typically require a prison term, the judge said he could only choose the probation option if certain mitigating criteria were met.
Flores emphatically denied an argument by defense attorney Steven Honse that prison “seems excessive” and that Mercado qualified for probation because he is not someone from whom the community needs to be protected.
“I looked at these factors carefully. There isn’t enough of the defendant’s background of the court making a finding of unusual circumstances (for probation),” Flores said.
Among the criteria in determining the severity of an offense, and thus what punishment it deserves, is its sophistication and if the defendant violated the public trust, Flores added.
“This was somewhat of a sophisticated type of offense. He has a background in accounting and in computers,” the judge said of his reasoning. “Whether he took advantage of a position of trust? Absolutely.”
What stood out to him, Flores said, was court testimony about the events surrounding Mercado’s decision to access the county’s electronic financial system to delete his wage garnishment.
When someone in the Auditor-Controller’s office advised Mercado not to do that, Flores recalled a witness testifying that Mercado’s response was, “‘ The only thing they can get me for is abuse of power.’ This is a very nonchalant defense. His staff is telling him over and over ‘Don’t do that.’ In a nutshell, that is what this case is about.”
Mercado’s own trial testimony also called into question his claims of remorse, the judge added.
“He was on the witness stand. It was excruciating to hear. ‘I did it because of the evil attorney and divorce court. That’s not remorse. That’s him telling what he did,” Flores said. “If Mr. Mercado has a conscience, he didn’t listen to it. But he should have listened to those who worked for him.”
While a county Probation Department pre- sentence report recommended Mercado be sentenced to three years on one felony and one year on the other, for a total of four years, Flores backed off from that. He imposed two years for each felony and six months for the
misdemeanor but stayed punishment on one felony and the misdemeanor for a total term of two years.
Some factors in mitigation, including Mercado having no criminal record, caused him to decide on the lower terms, Flores explained.
Honse did not submit a formal statement in mitigation for a lower sentence and Deputy District Attorney Mario Vela did not submit one in aggravation for a higher sentence. Honse told Flores he and Vela “decided the court can decide” those factors.
That appeared to irk Flores who noted he “got nothing” in writing from either attorney on those matters. He pointedly asked Vela, “What does your office want? Probation? The lower term?”
“He is presumptively ineligible for probation. It’s up to the court,” Vela replied.
Flores rejected a Probation conclusion that Mercado was eligible to serve his term in the county jail, explaining the law calls for a state prison term for the felonies charged. He also declined Honse’s request Mercado be allowed to remain free pending appeal and, when that was denied, that his client be given a week to get his affairs in order before surrendering for incarceration.
“Denied,” Flores said after each request. The bailiffs then moved in and cuffed Mercado.
After the hearing concluded, Honse said Mercado’s appeal would be filed by the end of the day on the grounds his client’s actions did not involve public funds. At trial, Honse said Mercado only sought to deprive his ex-wife and her attorney of funds.
Honse also explained to several people who arrived in support of Mercado that he likely would be sent to a state Department of Corrections processing facility in Los Angeles before being transferred to a prison. He added Mercado might serve just a year. The prison system has given inmates time off sentences for good behavior.
The impact of the conviction was made clear during the hearing. Besides “public humiliation,” Flores also noted Mercado lost his job, will not be allowed to hold public office again in California and has been stripped of being a certified public accountant.
The defendant’s own words perhaps put it more starkly.
“I never took into consideration my actions would cause all this pain and hardship to my staff, the people from the county who elected and supported me, my family and friends who supported me,” he said. “I apologize to my children. I’m going to miss my son’s graduation from high school.”
Elected in 2018, Mercado ran into trouble when he was censured by the county Board of Supervisors in December 2020 for failing to fulfill some of the required duties of his office. The county assigned the assistant auditor-controller to his job. The criminal charges, a separate matter, were filed in March 2021.
The position of Auditor-Controller was to become vacant following the sentencing and county will take further action regarding the position, public information officer Gilbert Rebollar said earlier this week.
Only one candidate, Karina B. Alvarez, a certified public accountant, filed to seek the office.
Following Mercado’s Feb. 24 conviction, the county sent him a letter informing him of several sanctions. They included stripping him of his $130,000 annual salary, as well as benefits, and banning him from performing the duties of the office, entering non-public areas of county buildings and contacting county employees.