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San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller unveiled new evidence on Nov. 21, in the ongoing investigation into Sheriff Christina Corpus, stating that a forensics company had verified that Corpus had, in fact, sent the homophobic text messages about a city official.
At the press conference on Nov. 21, Mueller also said that San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office ex-Capt. Brian Philip has filed a claim against the county after he chose to resign rather than arrest a police union president on Nov. 12.
In the claim against the county, which the county released to the press, Philip said that he experienced retaliation from the sheriff and her executive team after refusing to serve an internal affairs notice that he believed to be illegal and that he was asked to arrest union president Carlos Tapia without “any factual basis,” in an “improper and illegal” manner. Philip filed the claim with the county on Nov. 19.
Philip said in his claim that Corpus’ second in command, Undersheriff Dan Perea, ordered him “not to report this arrest order (of Tapia) to human resources or the district attorney’s office,” which left him with “no choice” other than to resign from his captain position with the Sheriff’s Office.
Tapia, who is the president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association, was arrested just hours before the county released a 408-page report by Judge LaDoris Cordell, which detailed allegations of retaliation, abuse of power, an affair, illegal possession of silence rifles and more by Sheriff Corpus and her executive team. The union said that the timing of his arrest suggests “whistleblower retaliation.” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe confirmed that Tapia was arrested by the Sheriff’s Office for “felony time card fraud.”
Philip’s claim names Corpus, Undersheriff Perea and the sheriff’s former chief of staff Victor Aenlle as being the employees that caused “injury, damage or loss.”
Philip is explicitly claiming that he has lost wages in excess of $10,000, pension in excess of $10,000, earning capacity in excess of $10,000, benefits in excess of $10,000 and experienced “substantial emotional distress.” This is a civil case, and Philip is asking for monetary restitution from the county.
“All this dysfunction under her leadership and the relationship she has with Mr. Aenlle are undoubtedly going to cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in lawsuits,” said Mueller at the press conference. “Money that should have been used to help the hungry and the sick and the vulnerable in this county.”
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has formally called on Corpus to resign and, on Nov. 19, voted to hold a special election in March to grant the board the power to remove Corpus from her position. The board currently does not have that power, as Corpus is an elected official.
Supervisors cited the legal liability facing the county as a reason to push forward the ballot measure so quickly, rather than waiting for a citizen-led recall election to make it to the ballot.
Illegal rifles
At the press conference, Mueller also revealed that the county is in possession of a memo that was sent to Corpus by Perea on Nov. 14, which details a request that Perea received from Aenlle. A copy of the memo was released to the press. In the memo, Perea recounts Aenlle asking him to change the code on the safe where the Sheriff’s Office stores silenced rifles after sending all other employees home for the day.
“He told me he was concerned about the rifles in the safe located in the executive team office,” wrote Perea in his memo to Corpus. “He stated, ‘this is how they are going to try to get me.’”
In her report, Cordell reveals that she found that Aenlle had access to suppressed (silenced) rifles, as he was confirmed to have the code to the safe in which they were stored. According to the California Penal Code, “any person, firm, or corporation who within this state possesses a silencer is guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment,” unless they are “regular, salaried, full-time peace officers,” who have been certified and trained to hold such weapons.
Aenlle’s position with the Sheriff’s Office is civilian in nature, meaning that he is not a regular, salaried, full-time peace officer. Even if Aenlle’s status as a reserve deputy were not in question, reserve deputies are not regular, salaried, full-time peace officers by definition.
In the memo, which is marked “confidential,” Perea said he refused to comply with Aenlle’s request to change the codes to the gun safe where the silenced rifles are stored, and asked Aenlle not to contact him again. Perea said that he was memorializing Aenlle’s request as Cordell’s investigation included information related to the silenced rifles.
A sparse executive team
Mueller was joined at the press conference by two captains in the Sheriff’s Office, Captain Mark Myers and Captain Eamonn Allen. The two captains said they were present at the press conference representing the other captains in the Sheriff’s Office. All five of the remaining captains in the Sheriff’s Office sent Corpus a letter letting her know that they held a unanimous vote of no confidence against her and Perea and calling on both of them to resign.
“I’m here on my own time and fully off duty speaking for the Sheriffs’ captains,” said Myers at the press conference. “We stand here today in appreciation for Supervisor Mueller and the Board of Supervisors who have given a voice to our organization and to show support for the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office who continue to show up to work and do a tremendous job every day under difficult circumstances.”
Captain Frank Dal Porto is the only captain that was hired by the Sheriff’s Office prior to Corpus taking the reins in 2022. All four other captains were hired by Corpus.
Undersheriff Perea is the only member of Corpus’ executive team that has not resigned, been fired nor taken a vote of no confidence against her. Her former Acting Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox resigned on Nov. 14 after the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors released Cordell’s report and formally called on Corpus to resign.
Fox was promoted to his role as acting assistant sheriff, the third in command in the Sheriff’s Office, just two months ago, after Corpus fired her former Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan.
At the time, Corpus denied that the firing had anything to do with Monaghan’s involvement in Cordell’s investigation.
“When the people of San Mateo County elected me as sheriff, they entrusted me to make decisions about who I include on my executive staff,” she said at a press conference in September after she fired Monaghan.
The report later revealed that Monaghan was fired just two days after speaking with Cordell in cooperation with the investigation.
Corpus’ former Undersheriff Chris Hsiung resigned in June, and was replaced by Undersheriff Perea.
Corpus promoted Aenlle to the position of assistant sheriff at a surprise appearance at the Nov. 13 meeting where the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to call on her to resign. The board also voted at that meeting to eliminate Aenlle’s position as chief of staff.
There are some questions about whether or not Aenlle is qualified for the position of assistant sheriff. Mueller said that as the county sees it, Aenlle is no longer employed by the county.
“There are qualifications that are set forth by the human resources department. … The county has taken a position that he does not meet those qualifications,” said Mueller at the press conference. “We have informed the sheriff as such, and that is not a matter that we understand (to be) under contest at the moment.”
Mueller said that it is an ongoing question whether Aenlle remains a reserve deputy with the Sheriff’s Office, as the Cordell report alleged that he did not meet the qualifications to remain a reserve deputy.
Homophobic texts
Mueller also revealed that the county had employed Cellebrite, a forensic technology company, to analyze texts from the witness in Cordell’s investigation who claimed that Corpus had referred to an unnamed city official by a homophobic moniker. The company confirmed the texts were sent from Corpus’ phone, according to Mueller.
Corpus claimed in a press conference on Nov. 12 that those texts specifically had been fabricated.
Mueller said that he believes that a sheriff who makes homophobic slurs is “not fit for office.”
I’m only part way through the 400+ page investigative report by Judge Cordell and it appears we voters simply traded one corrupt Sheriff for another. And this guy Aenlle has got some kind of weird control over Corpus. She needs to resign and take her boyfriend with her then we voters can try again to put someone that isn’t corrupt into the office.
Seems like such a vipers nest – difficult for ordinary citizens to figure out what is going on. Thought we were replacing the corrupt Sheriff when we voted for Corpus!