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Former Garden Grove police chief gets house arrest for embezzlement
May 4th, 2009, 3:00 am · 36 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
Frank Kessler was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest on Friday, after pleading guilty to embezzlement stemming from the personal use of a city credit card.
Kessler, 76, will also be on probation for three years.
The former police chief, mayor and councilman in Garden Grove, had retired to the small community of Canyon Lake in Riverside County, and won a seat on its city council. His wife, Suzanne, mistook a city credit card for a personal credit card when they were on a Hawaii cruise last year, Kessler has said. More than $6,000 of personal expenses popped up on the card, to pay for casino tokens and booze.
The Riverside Press Enterprise reported that Judge James T. Warren gave Kessler 30 days credit for good behavior, so he’ll only have to serve 60 days - two months - at home.
Kessler could have faced up to five years in prison if found guilty of the embezzlement charge.
Not a bad outcome for Kessler; but his legal troubles pale in comparison to his wife’s. Suzanne Kessler faces nearly two
dozen counts of financial impropriety, including writing bad checks worth some $119,000, as well as borrowing more than $800,000 under the pretense she’d repay her debts from a trust account. That trust account, however, does not exist.
She faces some 23 years if convicted on all counts, and heads to court again next month.
For some context, see photo right. The couple is pictured in 2007 at the Los Alamitos race track - that’s Frank Kessler to the right, and Suzanne in the center. They were among 15 owners of a once-undefeated race horse named Bikers Bono (below), who disappointed them by coming in second in the Governor’s Cup race.
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This guy left GGPD 12 years ago. None of his misdeeds have to anything to do with Garden Grove or Orange County. Why do we care what this guy did in Canyon Lake? Is this just another cheap shot at local law enforcement ?
Yeap, it is.
Another pig that will pay for his crooked ways. Woo hoo!! They should send him with Corona.
Danno -
Kessler was a force in Orange County for decades. Many people know him and follow what’s happening to him. And … it’s news when a former police chief commits a crime.
It’s also news when a former Council member and city Mayor commits a crime. Instead you chose to take a shot at law enforcement. If not, why didn’t the headline read Former Mayor Convicted……….?
No comment Teri?
Just 60 days of “house arrest” for a willful felony? And no mention of having to make restitution or of a fine. Hardly enough for stealing from the taxpayers.
That’s because the money was paid back long before the case was ever filed.
I’m glad they prosecuted him and didn’t just cover it up, like in a lot of cases. If you cover things like this up, the people just go and do it somewhere else.
What are the “cover ups” in a “lot of cases” that you are referring to?
I’m sure it was all an honest mistake.
Another pig, huh sag? That kinda sounds like a violation of post rules. I bet you are the type of person who doesn’t have the balls to say that in front of a bunch of “pigs”.
That sounds like a bodily harm threat. Don’t let comments get to you to the point that you stoop to being a thug. Police officers are to carry themselves in a professional manner… even during off time.
Please articulate how that is a bodily harm threat. Peace officers are also afforded first amendment rights. If someone is going to refer to peace officers as pigs, he can take a little backlashing as well. Quit being such a liberal.
Sounds to me as if both of these post’ violate user agreements and both should be removed. Shame on both of you!
Sagittarius says:
May 4, 2009 at 8:59 am
Another pig that will pay for his crooked ways. Woo hoo!! They should send him with Corona
cant we all getalong says:
May 4, 2009 at 11:08 am
Another pig, huh sag? That kinda sounds like a violation of post rules. I bet you are the type of person who doesn’t have the balls to say that in front of a bunch of “pigs”.
I’m not a liberal small-brained one. I am a tried and true conservative, but I am civilized and logical. Not uncivilized and illogical, as you appear to be.
You “peace” officers sometimes revert to your low class upbringing and get a little ahead of yourselves. You are most likely an uneducated, testosterone laden peon who can’t cope with the realities of the real world. Find someone else to bully, before you bite off more than you can chew… Officer.
Frank Kessler, the former police chief, mayor and councilman in Garden Grove, and crook as usual.
Garden Grove breeds the worst in high office Police Officals…just look at Jaramillo.
LOL, have you never heard “Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me?”
Grow up and act like you have a badge if that is your claim. Those of us that do carry one know all too well that it sometimes means holding your tongue in order to maintain the higher ground.
Also educate yourself on “Fighting words” and read the definition before you so ignorantly claim First Amendment rights, you will find it as a US Supreme Court ruling.
Also if in fact you are a sworn officer, you should know that your intent has nothing to do with the perception, the perception will determine if a threat was leveled.
Good day to you Sir.
has no problem calling a pig a pig or a horse a horse or a dog a dog.
especially if they are all in the same room.
this pig here shouldve got more than 60 days and i hope his wife gets some actual jail time.
greedy old bastards.
seems like a lot of bickering here over greedy pigs.
this pig here shouldve got more than 60 days and i hope his wife gets some actual jail time.
greedy old bastards.
Folks! Please stay civil and avoid the personal attacks and name-calling…or The Comment Enforcer will descend.
Is there a Jaramillo connection there…like father like son?
Well, I don’t know his past, but just judging from this story, it sounds like Frank Kessler is a victim of his wife’s financial dishonesty and irresponsibility. She’s the one who “accidentally” took a city credit card and charged it up. I’m sure Frank would know that you can’t get away with that for very long.
The fact that the money was paid back may be an indication that he’s trying to repair the damage done by his wife.
It just sounds to me like she has a pathological gambling problem.
He may be the victim here.
His crime may have been trying to protect his wife by covering up.
Has anything good ever come from or out of Garbage Grove?
Kessler was a big fan of government meddling when he was in city council and mayor. I wonder what we will be reading about GGPD’s current chief in the near future considering he was booted from a NM police dept for corruption.
Testosterone laden, yes. Uneducated, no. I’ll bow down and agree, that peace officers must sometimes bite their tongues. I apologize, not under duress for the comment I have made, but still find it ridiculous the level of contempt there is for cops in general. Especially in the blogs on this site.
Don’t take it personally. People are entitled to their opinions. Even if they may seem bone-headed.
By the way, the local weekly in Canyon Lake has been reporting on the story since they were both arrested in December and the stories contain quite a bit more detailed information than what has been reported in the larger papers. Some of the basic information is repeated, but each story also contains new information. The links appear below.
http://www.thefridayflyer.com/FF-2008-12-19/FFS-10936.htm
http://www.thefridayflyer.com/FF-2009-2-27/FFS-11371.htm
GGPD is as corrupt as it gets i have been beaten up as well as harrassed they are racist and beyond UN-EDUCATED. As for this Kessler punk if he was a citizen and somthing like this happened in GG he would be facing years in prison it’s a shame how GGPD runs…don’t get me wrong there are a few officers that are good people in GG and are there to help the citizens, much respect to those.
Danno-
Kessler was police chief for more than 13 years.
He was on the city council for about six years.
Teri,
His last positions were in politics either in Garden Grove or Canyon Lake. Gee, if he was a ditch digger for 14 years before entering law enforcement would your headline read Ditch Digger Convicted ……..?
Wow lots of harsh words out there. Let me throw my two cents in. First of all the is the OC Register. They will sensationalize or edit headlines in order to make things sound more prominent than they really are. Second, I don’t care if he is a priest or if he served in Iraq and saved a million kids. A crime is a crime, end of story. I think he got off easy, while I’d have liked to see the book thrown at him and his wife, that’s not my call as I was not on the jury. Maybe next time…
Seems to me that the real problem here is the wife, not the ex-chief.
He got off too easy. We should demand more from our leaders. He was Chief of Police and he willfully broke the law. He should have received the harshest sentence possible. It’s time we start holding the “educated” and “civilized” amongst us to a much higher standard and mete out stiffer penalties. After all, we can’t use ignorance as an excuse.
LET’S JUST LEAVE THE CITY. IT’S ALWAYS BEEN THE TRAILER TRASH CAPITAL OF OC. SO,,,,,, WILL THE LAST AMERICAN PLEASE BRING THE FLAG !!!!!!