BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Sheriff Christina Corpus concealed key information from her assistant sheriff so he would arrest the head of the deputy’s union amid heated labor negotiations and an investigation into her office, according to a new report filed in court by her attorneys.
Corpus violated a policy that said the District Attorney’s Office should investigate sheriff’s deputies, and she didn’t give Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox the full story when she assigned him to look into Deputy Carlos Tapia for time-card fraud, the report said.
The buildup
The episode between Corpus and Tapia started in January 2024, according to the report by attorney Jan Little of Keker Van Nest & Peters.
Tapia and the union complained about chief of staff Victor Aenlle, who was allegedly having an affair with Corpus and overstepping his authority on her executive team.
Corpus then accused deputies of excessively billing overtime in March 2024 and had Finance Director Stacey Stevenson start tracking timecards and reporting to her every other week, the report said.
Tapia was allowed to spend 30 hours a week on union work and was assigned to the transportation unit, which transports inmates from court to jail, on Fridays, the report said.
Stevenson had a payroll supervisor tell Tapia to start marking his timecard with a billing code for his union hours on Aug. 28, email show.
Around the same time, Corpus called Tapia’s boss in the transportation unit, Lt. Brandon Hensel, and told him that she may need him to start monitoring Tapia’s attendance, the report said.
Probe begins
Corpus directed Fox to investigate Tapia on Oct. 14, citing a comment by Hensel that Tapia was “never here,” according to the report.
Hensel, however, disputes this account and said Tapia was a “trustworthy and professional” employee who always showed up when he was scheduled, the report said.
Sergeants Steve Woelkers, Philip Hallworth and Daniel Chiu also said that Tapia never submitted inaccurate timecards.
“They further reported that Tapia is an exemplary and reliable employee who does not miss work without explanation, who typically communicates about his availability and who they can rely upon as a team player,” the report said.
Fox asked Corpus if he could review Tapia’s keycard records, but Corpus said no because she “did not trust the lieutenant who oversaw those records,” the report said.
Aenlle steered Fox away from interviewing the HR supervisor who told Tapia to use a code for his union hours, so Fox never knew that Tapia had been told to mark his timecards differently, the report said.
Fox’s view
Fox said the abrupt change, during a time of heated negotiations, made it seem like Tapia was committing fraud. But if Fox knew someone told Tapia to make the change, then Fox wouldn’t have arrested him, the report said.
Fox suggested placing Tapia on administrative leave so he would have more time to investigate, but Corpus said no on Nov. 7, the report said.
Fox met with Chief Deputy District Attorney Shin-Mee Chang on Nov. 12 and said he would arrest Tapia without a warrant, going against Chang’s urging to take more time, the report said.
Corpus made the ultimate decision to arrest Tapia, the report said.
Aenlle’s attorney Deborah Drooze emailed Supervisors Noelia Corzo and Ray Mueller a few hours later about “falsehoods” in a forthcoming report on the sheriff’s office by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell.
“A source for such falsehoods may be (Tapia), someone we believe has long been dedicated to ousting Sheriff Christina Corpus and her subordinates, including Mr. Aenlle. If that is the case, you should be advised that Mr. Tapia’s reputation for honesty and reliability has come under law enforcement scrutiny. As we understand it, Mr. Tapia was arrested today for fraudulent timecard use,” Drooze said in the email.
Fox resigns
The Cordell report was released to the public a few hours after Tapia was arrested. Fox resigned two days later.
“He had seen enough dysfunction and disarray at the highest levels that he didn’t want to be a part of it anymore,” his attorney Michael Rains said in an interview with the Post, passing along Fox’s apology for arresting Tapia.
A month after the arrest, the DA’s Office concluded that Tapia didn’t commit a crime and shouldn’t have been arrested.
The investigation was “extraordinarily limited and did not involve necessary follow-up investigation to examine the accuracy of the allegations,” the DA’s Office said.
Tapia remains on administrative leave, more than seven months after his arrest.
No corruption, nothing to see here – By Doc Vicky and mini me Christy….
And Tapia is still on leave, awaiting the outcome of an internal investigation into these same matters. Shameful!! Every few days new revelations of misconduct arise, yet Corpus continues to do whatever she chooses to do…unabated! All these processes to remove her just creep along, as she continues to “play the victim.” I cannot fathom how much all the ensuing lawsuits will cost the county. Time to pull the trigger on a general recall. The voters will overwhelmingly support getting this troll out of office before further harms can be done.
If soon to be civilian Corpus were anyone else — a private citizen, a deputy, or even a city councilmember — she would already be in handcuffs or at minimum, on suspension.
The accusations against her are serious: abuse of power, retaliation, false arrest, misuse of public funds, and allowing an unelected civilian, Vicky Anal, to wield unchecked influence over a law enforcement agency. Any ordinary person facing a civil grand jury accusation of willful or corrupt misconduct in office under Government Code §3060 would be suspended. But she’s still walking around the office at least once or twice a week, when she decides to show up for photo shoots.
We’re watching a two-tiered justice system unfold — one for the politically connected, and another for everyone else.
The civil grand jury has spoken. The evidence has been presented. And yet, she remains untouched. If any of us were caught retaliating against whistleblowers, interfering with internal affairs investigations, or falsely imprisoning someone, we’d be arrested and charged — not protected by silence from the District Attorney’s Office.
This isn’t about politics. It’s about accountability. It’s about restoring public trust. And it’s about applying the law equally, whether you wear a badge or not.
Corpus must be held to the same standards as the people she was elected to police. Anything less is a betrayal of justice. How many of her own employees are on admin leave for doing far less than what she has done????
This really shows just how evil and deceptive Corpus is (although everything she did was calculated by the midget pretend Doctor). Her lies certainly put Fox in legal jeopardy alongside herself, her idiot midget paramour, and that lump of nothing Dan Perera. Fox’s attorney wife no doubt told him to jump ship and turn State’s evidence while there was still time. I imagine that Fox will be called as a witness for the prosecution when the time finally comes. 18 U.S. Code Section 241 provides for up to 10 years imprisonment in a Federal prison for any perpetrators if two or more people conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate someone in the free exercise of their rights, under color of law or otherwise. Remember, there is no parole in the Federal system. I don’t think that it is a big stretch to label the actions of Corpus, Aenlle, and Perea as a conspiracy to deprive Carlos Tapia of his rights, and to intimidate him from exercising his First Amendment Rights. Maybe Victor the home wrecker’s wealthy wife will put some money on his books. I hope that all three really enjoy Top Ramen. Corpus will have to start downing all of that Xanax with pruno…
Commenter using the Finally pseudonym, I was unfamiliar with this statute. I enjoy learning. I found it an interesting read. Thank you for posting it. Corpus, Aenlle, Perea, and Fox should find it a very terrifying read. Let me quote the pertinent aspects of the section.
18 U.S.C. § 241 – U.S. Code – Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure § 241. Conspiracy against rights
“If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, … in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or …
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; … or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, …, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death” (Findlaw, 2024).
Was Tapia effectively kidnapped? Will a prosecution under that particular federal statute happen? Should it happen? Could it happen? All Corpus Cartel members involved in the arrest of Tapia could most certainly be subjected to a federal prosecution for the crime described above. Corpus, Aenlle, Perea, and Fox as corrupt public officials should be in a huge hurry to resign their positions, as well as make plea agreements to mitigate any of those penalties. It is, after all is said and done, the law and they have each sworn oaths to uphold the law. I wouldn’t want to gamble my future freedom of the notions, “Nah, they would never charge that section. Why would they?” Corruption of elected and appointed public officials is kind of a big deal after all. I think such charging would not be inappropriate and would send a huge public message.
I guess Foxy won’t be teaching Laws of Arrest, Report Writing or Weapon Safety at the next CSM Police Academy.
Can you say Color of Authority??? Bye Bye pension!!!!! Corpus and little Vicky are flat out criminals…
PROTEST HAPPENING THIS SATURDAY INFRONT OF CORPUS HOUSE AT 10AM! BE THERE! SPREAD THE WORD. THE VOTERS HAVE HAD ENOUGH! IF SHE WONT RESIGN WE WILL SHOW UP EVERYDAY UNTIL SHE DOES. REMEMBER TO STAY ON THE STREETS OR SIDEWALKS. NO TRESPASSING.
Corpus, Anal, Fox and Perea all kidnapped Carlos Tapia when they arrested him.
Why hasn’t the Attorney General Office, San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office or Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested Sheriff Corpus, Under Sheriff Perea, Chief of Staff Aenlle and Assistant Sheriff Fox? They’ve committed a felony under the color of authority. If they can do it to their own people what makes us think they cannot do it to us.
You could use this article as a probable cause declaration and arrest Sheriff Christy, Vicky, and Perea. It would have more facts and details than the one Fox did for Tapia’s arrest.
The system is broken. When an elected official can’t be fired for wrong doing and breaking laws.
There should be a process in place to put her on admin leave when it gets to this point until the jury is done.
It shouldn’t take 100,000-$200,000 or more to gain signatures just to start a recall that would take place in 6-12 months
It shouldn’t take a grand jury a year to go through a trial to fire someone
It shouldn’t be allowed to appeal Measure A which was legally certified.
The sheriff should not be allowed to speak publicly about personal and then tell others they don’t have those same freedoms of speech.
There is a point that the Attorney General gets involved.
We the people should be be protesting because the voters have spoken. Resign
San Mateo County ,What is going on here? How on earth is this still happening? What will it take for our elected state representatives to speak up ? you are not protecting us. I understand they have to allow local government to go through a process, but this is going to end badly unless something is done now. Very disturbing to see just how
powerless we really are. Something has to change.
How much longer can this go on? Ridiculous
Why do people think that there are MULTIPLE corrupt deputies but don’t believe the Sheriff herself is corrupt. All of a sudden there is a gang of sheriff employees that are bad -and what did they do?
Supposedly asked corpus to stay home or made sime passing comments or maybe didn’t pass Aenlle through field training? How demoralizing.
It’s time to write to Bonta – unless he is part of the Corpus inner circle he should be stepping up – protests in Sacramento ?
According to the AG SITE- why isn’t this happening?
The Civil Rights Enforcement Section takes a proactive role in identifying civil rights violations to be remedied by the Attorney General. It also works closely with the public, state, federal and local government agencies, and civil rights and community organizations to identify potential civil rights initiatives. When civil rights violations are confirmed, the Civil Rights Enforcement Section will represent the Attorney General in his independent capacity as California’s chief law officer in prosecuting those who have violated the law, and will seek the strongest remedies to prevent further violations of those laws.
Yesterday she placed Sgt Fava on administrative leave.
It’s interesting how this has reached a point wherein Gretchen Spiker has given up trying to Kellyanne Conway spin alternative facts for VicTina anymore.
The gig is up Corpus. Resign. Instead of wasting money on lawyers for endless appeals, redirect that money to buy yourself a pardon.
As a former Deputy and retired after 27 years, the county of San Mateo and its residents should have voted on a recall of sheriff Corpus. I trained her in the Jail when she was just a corrections officer. She was a know it all plain and simple, and now she’s corrupt and a absolute embarrassment to the Sheriff office she needs to be investigated for corruption and any felonies that she and her lap dogs may have committed.
Where can I apply for the Sheriff’s Office?
The Murder of a Department!
Criminal Charges against Corpus and Perea must be implemented NOW!
To District Attorney Wagstaffe, County Manager Callagy, and County Attorney Nibbelin: As officials, YOU have an obligation to the citizens of San Mateo County to place Sheriff Christina Corpus and Undersheriff Dan Perea on immediate Leave of Absence, relieving them of duty so no further harm is inflicted on our Department or to the dedicated employees who are targeted every day. You MUST remove them until this case is concluded, either by criminal indictment, arrest, or public termination. All eyes are focused on YOU to do something NOW!
Corpus and Perea placing Detective Joe Fava on administrative leave for being compelled to testify in the Kecker investigation is clearly an unlawful abuse of power. Confining Fava to remain at home, 5 days a week from 8:00AM to 5:00PM, without the freedom to leave his residence can be nothing less than corrupt. It seems that Fava being honest, truthful and compliant resulted in yet another infamous Corpus retaliation – Once again, this is unethical, immoral, and purely criminal. Who is next?
Corpus, END this charade … Your bloody fangs are showing!
Things that make you go hmmmm…..
Ever wonder what you would see if you metaphorically compare what Sheriff Corpus and her cronies have done and continue to do to that of what an organized criminal enterprise does? This is what I come up with:
Concerns with the Sheriff Tactics in Organized
and Her Cronies Crime
1. Cronyism / Nepotism Loyalty Based Hierarchies
2. Intimidation of Whistle- Silencing Dissent Through Fear
blowers or Critics
3. Opaque Decision-Making or Non-Transparent Operations
Favoritism
4. Retaliation Against Use of Power to Maintain
Political Opponents Control
Certainly something to think about. Everyone can make up their own minds about the comparison.
Any excuse that prior Sheriffs have done the same, I offer you this. If someone does something wrong, isn’t it still WRONG if you do it?
My apologies for the formatting on my previous comment. My post was not formatted as it was intended to be.
The metaphoric comparison is as follows:
The Sheriff’s and Her Cronies’ Tactics:
1. Cronyism / Nepotism
2. Intimidation of Whistleblowers or Critics
3. Opaque Decision Making or Favoritism
4. Retaliation Against Political Opponents
Tactics in Organized Crime:
1. Loyalty Based Hierarchies
2. Silencing Dissent Through Fear
3. Non-Transparent Operations
4. Use of Power to Maintain Control
Again, certainly something to think about in how they are so similar. Again, make up your own minds.
Any excuse to say that prior Sheriffs have operated the same way would be a lame excuse. If it was wrong then, it is wrong now. Any moral and ethical person would see that.
What the actual F!
If the board can’t fire a Sheriff even with Measure A proceedings because the legal system goes in circles in court.
The Attorney General and governor are supposed to have power over civil rights violations but the explanation of this process also goes in circles and leads to nothing being done.
The Sheriff recall is a lengthy costly process which should be in the works but then by 2026 hopefully this situation would be resolved.
Can someone make the grand jury process go faster? Sometimes the delay tactics for this are ridiculous.
I understand the point of due process and fair trials and everything but at what point can we make this OBVIOUS bad situation stop. This is heartbreaking to hear about, watch the struggles of an entire department and the impact on everyone in the county.
Who can actually help get rid of a Sheriff, she is mentally unstable and goes rouge impacting peoples lives. Violating civil rights, breaking state and federal labor laws, who would replace her? These are all serious questions that keep us all up at night.