A courtroom gavel. File photo
A former employee of the San Diego County Clerk’s Office pleaded guilty Friday to unlawfully recommending that his wife’s company be hired to work on county projects.
Rolf Bishop, 73, was charged earlier this year with a felony count of violating Government Code Section 1090, which prohibits a county employee from having a financial interest in any contract made by them in their official capacity.
Bishop, who previously worked as chief deputy for information systems with the San Diego County Assessors/Recorder/County Clerk’s Office, pleaded guilty to that lone charge on Friday. He’s expected to be sentenced to probation in August.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office alleges that from March of 2017 to January of last year, Bishop recommended that his wife’s company be hired to work on ARCC projects and he approved invoices related to her work and the work of her employees.
Prosecutors alleged the couple may have netted hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.
The case was referred to the DA’s Office by San Diego County’s Office of Ethics Compliance.
–City News Service