Crime & Safety

Pechanga's Former CFO Begins Serving Sentence After Bilking The Tribe

Temecula resident Ryan Jay Robinson, 42, Pechanga’s former chief financial officer, is beginning his 29-month sentence behind bars after he was convicted this past spring for bilking the tribe out of millions, The Press-Enterprise is reporting.

Former insurance broker James William Riley, 49, of Murrieta, was also convicted in the bribery scheme and is beginning his sentence as well, the news agency reported.

Below is the Patch report dated May 7, 2013, which was published after the verdict was read:

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Two men were found guilty Monday of committing bribery while they served as an insurance broker and an accountant for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

A Riverside jury convicted James William Riley, 49, of Murrieta, and Ryan Jay Robinson, 42, of Temecula of three counts each of commercial bribery, according to John Hall, spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Riley, a former insurance broker and partner at Murrieta-based , and Robinson, the Pechanga tribe's former chief financial officer, are scheduled to be sentenced July 3. Each faces a maximum sentence of four years and four months, according to Hall.

Monday’s verdicts came during the retrial of the pair that occurred after a Riverside jury had deadlocked in July 2012 on whether to convict them of all the charges.

Riley and Robinson were indicted in February 2010 on multiple felony charges stemming from a $4-million scam that the District Attorney's Office alleged the pair perpetrated in 2005 and 2006.

The jury in July 2012 voted 8-4 for acquittal on charges of grand theft and money laundering. Those counts were then dropped, leaving only the bribery charges. On those, the jury hung 10-2 for guilty.

"The facts just aren't there regarding an intent to steal," Chris Jensen, Robinson's attorney, told City News Service at the time. "The prosecution seems bothered by the profits that (Mr. Riley) made, and they're trying to equate profits to theft ... The tribe might have been overcharged (on insurance premiums), but is that stealing?"

Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Jeanne Roy alleged Riley and Robinson began their illicit activity shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck in September 2005. Commercial insurance rates skyrocketed following the disaster, enabling the defendants to justify exorbitant insurance costs from which they gained, according to the prosecutor.

She said Riley allegedly artificially inflated the tribe's property and risk insurance premiums to pocket large sums disguised as fees, with Robinson's complicity.

The prosecution contended that Robinson received $190,000 under the table for his participation. Jensen characterized the payments as "loans" that his client needed to pay down divorce-related debts.

According to Riley's attorney, Souley Diallo, his client never committed a crime, and the prosecution's case boiled down to a misunderstanding of complex financial arrangements.

Both defendants remain free on $25,000 bail until they must report for sentencing.




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