Former Gilroy City Councilman Craig Gartman pleaded not guilty
Tuesday to stealing more than $9,000 from a private Memorial Day
parade fund. Gartman waived a formal plea hearing, and a
preliminary hearing date was set for Aug. 19.Full article
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Former Gilroy City Councilman Craig Gartman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to stealing more than $9,000 from a private Memorial Day parade fund.
Gartman was accompanied by his attorney, Kirk Elliott, who entered the plea on Gartman’s behalf during an arraignment at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.
Gartman waived a formal plea hearing, and a preliminary hearing date was set for Aug. 19.
Judge JoAnne McCracken ordered Gartman, who was already out of custody, be released on his own recognizance. She also ordered the $10,000 bail Gartman paid when he self-surrendered to authorities June 2 be returned to Gartman.
The former Councilman spoke only briefly to confirm his date of birth with his attorney.
Gartman did not speak with reporters following the arraignment.
Outside the courthouse, Elliott said the discovery process for the defense was “just beginning,” adding there were several thousand documents related to the case that still needed to be reviewed.
He said he would conduct “forensic accounting” on all documents to make the numbers matched up.
Elliott said he had found no evidence so far that showed Gartman committed anything worse than sloppy bookkeeping.
“I haven’t seen it yet,” Elliot said.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office began its investigation into the Gilroy Memorial Day Parade fund more than two years ago. Gartman was charged May 27 with grand theft and could face up to three years in prison if convicted.
