Former Contractor Arraigned for Gifts to Southwestern School Officials

A former contractor whose firm won a $5.3 million contract from Southwestern College two years ago went before a judge Monday and admitted that he paid for school officials' meals and entertainment.

Paul Curtis Bunton, 53, faces six months in jail and up to $1,000 in fines when he is sentenced June 19 by Judge Michael Smyth.

Bunton entered his guilty plea in the misdemeanor case on the same day that charges were filed against him and 46-year-old Nicholas Alioto, former vice president of business affairs at the college.

Alioto faces felony counts of perjury, filing a false document and a misdemeanor charge of wrongful influence by a public official and is due back in court May 18 for a status conference.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said previously that Southwestern College officials and officials from the accepted thousands of dollars in meals, tickets and gifts in exchange for their votes on multimillion-dollar construction projects.

Construction company executive to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the case, said he didn't think he was doing anything wrong by wooing school board members with gifts and other things.

Amigable said his expenses were generated with the endorsement of his employers, Gilbane Building Co. and Seville Construction Services, which have not been charged.

He denied that any school board members charged in the case, including former SUHSD Superintendent Jesus Gandara, ever reimbursed him or his employers for the meals, tickets and gifts.

Trustees Arlie Ricasa, 47, and Pearl Quinones, 59, and 16-year former board member Greg Sandoval, 58, .

Between 2008 and 2011, the defendants frequented San Diego-area restaurants, spending hundreds of dollars on food and drinks, sometimes more than $1,000 per outing, Dumanis alleged. The defendants were also given Los Angeles Lakers playoff tickets, Rose Bowl tickets and a trip to Napa Valley, she said.

For years, the public officials regularly accepted what amounted to bribes in exchange for their votes on multimillion-dollar construction projects, the county's top prosecutor said.

If convicted, Gandara, Quinones, Sandoval and Ricasa each face between four and seven years in state prison, Dumanis said.

- City News Service