The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office decided last week that a complaint made by an individual about the odds of winning in the gun raffle fundraiser conducted by the Friends of Mike Boudreaux election campaign did not merit criminal fraud charges.
“The Visalia Police Department received a written complaint from an individual and the Visalia Police Department did not have jurisdiction,” said Assistant District Attorney Anthony Fultz. “It was not in the city of Visalia, so they submitted it to us. We determined there was no fraudulent activity based on that complaint.”
“This reaffirms what we’ve been saying all along that we did everything by the book and that our gun raffle was and is legal,” said Acting Sheriff Mike Boudreaux in a prepared statement. “This also reaffirms what we were told by the various state agencies we consulted with and our legal counsel. My campaign is focused on the issue of who is best equipped and most qualified to protect the people of Tulare County as their sheriff.
“I’m hoping we can move on and focus on real issues,” Boudreaux later told the Voice. “I’m hoping the rest of the campaign focuses on the differences between the candidates.”
He added, “We knew we were right.” However, Dave Whaley, the other candidate for sheriff, disagrees.
“The acting sheriff continues to assert this campaign fundraising tactic was legal when it is clearly unlawful,” responded Whaley in a letter to the Voice (see page 15). “All a fair minded person need do is visit the California Attorney General’s website (frequently asked questions) and you find that Penal Code 320 makes it a misdemeanor to hold a raffle unless you are a charitable organization and exempted in P.C. 320.5.
“Our district attorney has chosen to declare a conflict on the raffle and refer it to the attorney general,” Whaley also wrote. “Why would he choose now to even consider this victim’s case of fraud submitted by Visalia Police Department? Shouldn’t the district attorney have declared a conflict on that too?”
The complaint, however, was based on allegations of fraud about the odds of winning included on the gun raffle flier, according to Fultz, who added that no investigation was conducted, only “a review.”
“We reviewed the material that was submitted to us.” Fultz said. “That material made allegations that were based on the odds of winning. We did the math. The odds of winning were actually better than what was on the raffle flier. People who bought a ticket actually had a better chance of winning.”
An estimated 2,600 tickets were sold and the gun raffle flier stated the odds were one in 500. There was a separate drawing for each of the 11 guns, resulting in the odds of winning being less than half of what was advertised – slightly over one in 236.