Ex-fire battalion chief pleads to illegal timekeeping scheme

A former Contra Costa fire battalion chief who inflated his own wages through a timekeeping scheme will serve 30 days in a jail alternative program and stay on probation for a year as part of a plea deal with county prosecutors.

Louis Manzo Jr., 58, pleaded no contest to felony grand theft in what prosecutors call a $46,000 scheme to steal public funds. Authorities say Manzo beefed up his timesheets and paid time off requests to give himself money he didn't earn.

The scheme lasted from 2014-19, when Manzo was a battalion chief with the Contra Costa Fire Protection District, authorities said.

Ted Asregadoo, a spokesperson for the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, said the dates of the crime to which Manzo pleaded guilty ran from Feb. 5, 2018, to Jan. 2, 2019.

Christina Dunn, the CEO for the Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association, said by phone Tuesday that Manzo is still collecting his pension from the county but that “there is a law that provided felony forfeiture.”

She added that such a decision to “re-calculate and take out” some of what Manzo receives would happen only after the the county receives official notice of the decision. That is expected to happen within 90 days.

The plea agreement requires Manzo to spend 30 days in a work alternative program run by the county sheriff, in lieu of jailtime, and to do 30 hours of community service, on top of the one-year probation term. Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton also noted the plea deal requires Manzo to pay back the illgotten funds.