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TV executive pleads no contest to embezzlement

April 21, 2011

The former head of San Luis Obispo County Public Access television pleaded no contest on April 11 to charges he embezzled funds from the nonprofit. [NewTimes]

Anthony Pope was arrested on April 6 for embezzling $2,525 from the station.

In August, Pope secured funding for the purchase of electronic equipment for the station. He, however, allegedly returned the equipment before it could be used by the TV station.

Prosecutors said he used the money to buy personal items including laptop computers.

After serving only five months as chairman of the nonprofit’s board, Pope was removed from the lead position in August because of complaints that he “pissed people off and burned a lot of bridges.” During his time as chairman, the nonprofit’s relationship with Charter Communications soured and the public access station lost its studio.

Pope faces up to a year in jail, restitution and three years of formal probation. His sentencing is set for May 9.

He remains in San Luis Obispo County Jail with bond set at $35,000.


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Come on county! What is your problem! 35k bail for 2.5 k supposedly taken. Somethings fishy here. What a waste of taxpayer money when, as others have said, Gearhart goes free. Do your friggin job idiots!


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Get Kelly Gearhart, get Jay & Courtney Miller, get Melanie Schneider…..

Get Kelly Gearhart, get Jay & Courtney Miller, get Melanie Schneider…..

Get Kelly Gearhart, get Jay & Courtney Miller, get Melanie Schneider…..

Get Kelly Gearhart, get Jay & Courtney Miller, get Melanie Schneider…..


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Yes, yes, yes, yes.


When will the real crooks get theirs? These ‘private sector’ thieves (mostly white collar bums) have more than matched the thievery of the political crimes of some of our crooks in the state and federal arenas. I’m politically partisan as hell but whoever rips off the taxpayer or others ought to be hung upside down in the park for all of us to interact with. Seems we have some issues all around and we need a bit more outrage. I wonder how many who haunt these pages wrote the slo CC about the outrageous contract they handed the new city manager? I wonder how many blowhards there are. If you care about something-get off the couch and do something.


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So glad they were motivated enough to arrest Pope for a $25,000 embezzlement gig.


I can see why they would prioritize that over a 3-million-gallon sewage-dumping ecological disaster, where not only were the beaches and ocean contaminated by human biological waste–Oceano streets and homes were contaminated, and humans were possibly exposed to organisms that cause diseases, such as hepatitis, as well.


I can easily see why Pope’s $25,000 theft would be prioritized over decades of mismanagement and fraud of the SSLOCCD facility by John Wallace and his company, The Wallace Group. This led to this ecological disaster, and set us all up for other similar disasters, as well, because the underlying problems of the plant have not been addressed (but have been very well covered up by the majority on the SSLOCCD oversight board).


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Not sure where the $25K number came from as the story reads $2500. Either way stealing is stealing regardless if its considered “lunch money” or Martini’s as it was put. Its not acceptable and the elitist attitude which has allowed the squandering of our tax dollars must stop.

Theres no denying the Government is the most inefficient provider of services alive and Its detestable that Wallace applied for over $100K in FEMA funds to reimburse the District for the associated costs with the spill clean up, when it was Wallace’s negligence as manager and engineer which is responsible for the spill.

The public has no obligation to be held financially responsible for the Districts mess, this lack of accountability and government corruption is whats destroying this county and like a cancer eating us alive it will consume us of not treated immediately. Pope like others in this county need to be held accountable for stealing, we need to get the message out NOW that your party is over.


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hotdog are you in construction?


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No, what is the significance of the question?


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I hope they have very strong evidence. $2,500 seems awfully small to keep a guy in jail over. This will cost us $100,000 in the end so I sure hope he is really, really, a bad guy here and this is not just an inept mistake. Or, worse… a vendetta for “pissing people off and burning bridges.”


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Considering the cost of incarceration or a day in court for that matter which is pricey at best, we cannot compare the monetary valve of a crime to its severity as a deciding factor in pursuing criminal charges. If that was the case we’d all be in trouble and costly as it may be justice needs to be served, do you not agree?


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Which is why I expressed that I hope there is a very clear reason for the charge. Did I fail to communicate?


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No, your comment is pretty straight froward, there’s those who feel otherwise though and not just the ones helping themselves to our dollars. Interesting as today the State Controller ordered an audit of Montebello’s past finances, we should be so lucky as to see something of this nature for the OCSD the San Dist, Atascadero and any other “Dist” ,CSD or municipality in this county.


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I wonder what sort of kafkaesque bizarro world we are all in. Pope steals lunch money and gets immediate legal attention. Hurst financial and Gearhead steal around $125 million and are having martinis on us! They have been KNOWN to be crooks for over 3 years, they have admitted it. Yet NO legal sanctions have even been suggested by any LE.


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I am wondering if somebody at the station has a friend in the DA’s office.


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