Assessor official pleads not guilty to felony charges in San Bernardino County

11:11 AM PDT on Wednesday, July 30, 2008
 
A former top official of the San Bernardino County Assessor's office pleaded not guilty in court today to six felony charges that include presenting false evidence to a grand jury and destroying public records.

Wearing a gray-colored suit, Adam Aleman stood before San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge John Martin to enter his plea. Afterward, he quickly left the courtroom, ducking into an elevator without offering comment.

Authorities arrested Aleman on June 30, the same day the grand jury -- the same one he is accused of attempting to mislead -- released a report critical of the assessor's department. The probe stated that political allies of the assessor, Bill Postmus, were given high-ranking jobs at the agency though lacking necessary experience. The grand jury also found staff members used the county email system during working hours to engage in partisan politics, a misuse of public resources.

Aleman, 25, was placed on paid administrative leave in April after county investigators raided the assessor's office, seizing computers and documents. He resigned in early July after the chairman of the board of supervisors, Paul Biane, demanded his dismissal.

Last week, Postmus took a 10-week medical leave, without specifying the nature of his ailment.

Three of the six charges against Aleman allege he backdated and falsified documents in January. A fourth charge alleges he submitted the tampered documents to the grand jury.

The final charges allege Aleman destroyed a hard drive from a laptop computer in mid-2007 and, in the process, destroyed public records. The hard drive had been issued to Postmus when he was a county supervisor.

Deputy District Attorney John Goritz said Aleman faces between 16 months to 3 years in prison for each charge.

"The charges are what they are and we plan to prove them beyond a reasonable doubt," he said.

Aleman was widely considered a "rising star" in local Republican circles. He has pursued a passionate interest in politics, starting as a teenage campaign volunteer. In 2005 and 2006, he served as the executive director of the San Bernardino County Republican Party. At about the same time, he also worked as a special assistant to then Supervisor Bill Postmus. He would go onto manage Postmus' successful campaign for assessor.