2 Convicted In Coachella Valley School Theft Case
INDIO (AP) — Two former employees of the Coachella Valley Unified School District have been found guilty of stealing public funds.
The district's former director of transportation, Raul Lopez, and department employee Clemencia Ochoa were convicted Friday in Indio.
Prosecutors allege Lopez stole more than $65,000 from the district.
He faces a sentence of 29 years in prison on 25 counts of misappropriation of public funds and one count of embezzlement.
Ochoa, his girlfriend, was convicted of three counts of grand theft and one count of petty theft. She faces more than four years in prison.
Prosecutors allege Lopez issued fake invoices for bus repairs and billed the district for auto parts that he used in his own shop.
Lopez and Ochoa falsified timesheets to reflect hours Ochoa didn't work.
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