HOWARD MINTZ
mercurynews.com
SAN JOSE - Rejecting a plea for leniency, a federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former Santa Clara police officer to three years in prison for his role in illegally supplying confidential law enforcement information to a Live Oak Hells Angel to pay off a debt.
During a hearing in a packed San Jose courtroom, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh imposed the sentence on Clay Rojas, expressing concern that the former cop and ex-Marine had not fully accepted responsibility for his crimes in statements to probation investigators.
"It's telling me he doesn't understand still that what he did was illegal and was wrong," the judge said. "This is a sad day for everyone."
With his wife, father and other supporters behind him, Rojas stood stoically for the sentencing, moments after apologizing to his former police colleagues, his family and the "citizens of Santa Clara." Rojas told the judge he had "regretfully slipped" and "violated his ethical code."
Koh ordered him to surrender to U.S. Marshals on March 30 to begin serving his prison sentence. Rojas declined to comment outside court.
A jury last year convicted Rojas of 12 felony charges stemming from allegations he gave the privileged law enforcement material, such as criminal histories and DMV records, to William "Billy" Bettencourt, a known felon and member of the Santa Cruz chapter of the biker gang.
Bettencourt, 39, lived in Live Oak before he was apprehended on separate charges in September 2011. Bettencourt was arrested with a gun, anabolic steroids and $40,000 in cash when the Santa Cruz County gang task force raided his home.
Bettencourt is in custody in Santa Clara County.
The U.S. Attorney's Office urged Koh to sentence the 38-year-old Rojas to 41 months in prison, saying his conduct "undermined the public's confidence in law enforcement" and tarnished the image of the Santa Clara Police Department.
Sitting in the front row of the gallery behind the prosecution table, Santa Clara police brass lined up to call for a harsh punishment. Police Chief Kevin Kyle asked the judge to impose the 41-month prison term for the ex-officer's "morally reprehensible" conduct.
"Truthfully," Kyle told Koh, "I think a term of 41 months is actually lenient and inadequate."
Thomas Ferrito, Rojas' lawyer, argued for probation, saying the former Marine who served in Iraq had a "complete lapse in judgment" that did not warrant spending time behind bars.
Ferrito insisted that prosecutors and the media had overblown the link to the Hells Angels and that Rojas has atoned for his mistakes.
Others came to Rojas' defense, including his pastor, his current boss and a former San Jose police lieutenant who once supervised him.
Rojas was arrested in 2010 after police discovered he was furnishing the confidential data to Bettencourt, purportedly to pay off thousands of dollars in loans he owed the Hells Angel.
Federal prosecutors later turned up text message exchanges between Rojas and Bettencourt discussing the law enforcement records.
The department fired the five-year veteran after the scheme was revealed.
Sentinel staff writer Stephen Baxter contributed to this report.
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William Bettencourt
Clay Rojas