BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe announced today (March 9) that he has decided not to retry the 18 felonies that a jury deadlocked on in the case against former San Mateo County Community College Chancellor Ron Galatolo.
Galatolo, 62, of Menlo Park, was found guilty of eight felonies on Jan. 20, including four counts of tax evasion and four counts of perjury. The jury was deadlocked 9-3 and 10-2 for guilty on the remaining charges, which include misuse of public funds, perjury and conflicts of interest. .
Wagstaffe said he decided not to retry the remaining charges due to the high cost to San Mateo County taxpayers. He did not have an estimate as to how much a second trial would cost.
Galatolo is facing 10 years in prison for the eight counts he was convicted of, which Wagstaffe says is a reasonable sentence, with or without the additional convictions.
Galatolo’s trial started on Oct. 29 and closing arguments ended on Jan. 7, with the jury deliberating for nine days. The trial went through multiple stops and starts due to the holidays and a juror getting sick.
Galatolo was charged with taking bribes from contractors, tax fraud, misappropriation of public funds, conflict of interest, and embezzlement over a 10-year period while he was chancellor. Galaolo served as chancellor from 2001 until 2019, overseeing the three-school district comprising Canada in Redwood City, College of San Mateo, and Skyline in San Bruno.
During his time as chancellor, voters approved bond measures totaling nearly $1 billion. The bond measures were intended to fund new construction and renovations to existing buildings. The DA accused Galatolo of taking bribes from the contractors on those projects.
The DA first started investigating Galatolo in 2018 after whistleblowers contacted Wagstaffe’s office. Galatolo announced he was leaving his job on the first day of classes in 2019. Two weeks later, the Post first reported about Wagstaffe’s investigation. After 2½ years, Galatolo was arrested in April 2022 at SFO while returning home from vacation. The case slowly snaked its way through the court system after that.
Galatolo faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on the eight guilty verdicts, according to Wagstaffe. Galatolo remains out of jail on $150,000 bail and will be back in court on June 5 for sentencing.
Former Vice Chancellor of Facilities Jose Nunez, who took a plea bargain on Jan. 5, 2022, after being hit with 15 felonies, has not yet been sentenced, as it depends on his testimony against Galatolo, his former boss.
Nunez will be in court on May 5 for a hearing.
A local official caught taking bribes? He deserves a hand-slap and 30 days probation. That will send a message!
VOTERS ARE too forgiving at the ballot when it comes to schools bonds, hopefully they will wise up
Give Ron some credit, he pulled some big bucks out of these contractors and he did it for a lot of years. When his jail time is over, he could teach a class on the finer art of shake downs.