2008-07-01

Key figures in San Bernardino County's 1990s corruption cases

Current officials in San Bernardino County have long tried to improve the county's image after a high-profile public corruption scandal in the late 1990s. Here are the central figures from that scandal, which included top public officials accepting bribes.

JAMES HLAWEK

Sentenced to three years' probation and fined. San Bernardino County's administrative officer from 1994 to 1998, he pleaded guilty in 1999 to accepting bribes in exchange for helping Norcal Waste Systems Inc. and businessmen Ronald Canham and Richard Tisdale get millions of dollars in county contracts.
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HARRY MAYS

Sentenced to two years in prison and fined. A former county administrative officer and later a consultant to Norcal, Mays was convicted of bribing Hlawek to get the company landfill contracts worth $200 million.
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WILLIAM "SHEP"

McCOOK
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McCook was accused of paying bribes to Hlawek. In exchange, Hlawek helped McCook gain county approvals for billboards on county land. McCook was acquitted in federal court in August 2004 of the charges; a California court later ruled it would be double jeopardy to try him on similar state charges.

JERRY EAVES

Former county supervisor pleaded guilty in 2004 to conspiring to violate California's Political Reform Act by failing to disclose gifts -- free hotel stays in Las Vegas provided by McCook. Eaves was fined $10,000 and ordered to serve three years of unsupervised probation.

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