Retired Calif. Firefighter Takes Embezzlement Plea Deal
Dec. 15--MARTINEZ -- Retired Contra Costa Fire Capt. Jon Wilmot accepted a deal from prosecutors Tuesday, pleading no contest to pillaging firehouses of hundreds of items from pencils and toilet paper to chain saws and expensive gear.
Wilmot, 54, of Alamo, received five years felony probation, 180 days of house arrest and a permanent stay-away order from all current and former Contra Costa Fire employees. As part of the deal, Wilmot pleaded no contest to felony embezzlement and a misdemeanor DUI violation, in exchange for a dismissal of felony charges of receiving stolen property, possession of an assault weapon and commercial burglary. If he completes his probation, his felony will be reduced to a misdemeanor.
Wilmot also was required to pay the fire department $33,000 in restitution, which he has done, his attorney Tom McKenna said.
"He took property that wasn't his from the fire district and he's paid them back in full," McKenna said Tuesday outside court. "They took a lot of his personal property too."
Wilmot was arrested in December 2012 and has been free on bail. He served in the district 27 years before retiring right around the time of his arrest. He earned $104,000 in base salary, $103,000 in overtime and a total compensation package of $282,000 in his final full year with ConFire in 2012, according to salary records.
Authorities confiscated 268 items believed to be fire district property during searches of his homes in Alamo and Concord, his mother's Orinda house and his six cars and trucks. Wilmot was accused of stealing property from stations in Concord, Alamo, Orinda and Lafayette.
The fire district began investigating Wilmot in May 2012 after a colleague filmed him leaving the Mt. Diablo Boulevard fire station in Lafayette with a chain saw, an iron skillet and sports drinks, according to search warrants. As the probe continued, Wilmot was filmed or seen by firefighters taking property at other stations while off duty. Lafayette police began investigating after firefighters reported a recumbent bike and an elliptical exercise machine missing from a shuttered Lafayette fire station.
The fire department filed a restraining order against Wilmot in December, citing "indirect, passive-aggressive actions" toward employees and his large "cache of illegal weapons" as a concern. The petition cited investigators' seizure of 53 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition from Wilmot's property, according to the documents obtained by NBC Bay Area at the time.
Wilmot threatened to rape and decapitate a woman who accidentally phoned him and hung up, and he gave a co-worker a bullet with the employee's name on it, according to the restraining order petition.
Wilmot's personal property, including his guns, will be given to another individual, Judge Terri Mockler said during Tuesday's hearing. Wilmot, wearing a brown suit, answered "yes" and "no" to the judge's questions.
"He's very remorseful," McKenna said. "He's just a decent guy that made a mistake and he's paying for it. He was a captain and you don't get to be captain if you're a bad worker."
Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.
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