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Cara Cruz-Thompson changed her plea from not-guilty to guilty on Friday, March 26th, 2010 as she appeared in Court Room C-35 before Judge Frank Fasel in Orange County Superior Court.  She pleaded guilty on all counts made against her in the Complaint by the District Attorney in the case which has come to be known colloquially as the AIG/Matrix embezzlement case. 

Cara was named in the fewest number of counts in the original 201 count Complaint, prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Thomas Schultz, which has since been revised to an even larger number of counts.  She pled guilty to 11 counts of grand theft and 11 counts of insurance fraud, plus one count of conspiracy.  Thus, Cara pled guilty to 23 counts, out of more than 201 plus counts.  Thus, these remaining counts are now left to the other three defendants: Hector Porrata, Rene Montes, and George Martinez. 

This deal for Cara remained very hidden and secretive, and came as a shock to this reporter, as even the DA's office staff last Thursday afternoon did not know this deal was going to happen at all the next day.  Thus, they advised me there was simply going to be a continuance.  And even on the following Monday they advised me that only a continuance had happened.

Larry Torres, a reader whose career has been as a self-insured employers' representative, and as the Claims Manager of the County of San Bernardino, wrote, "If the case is being continued it means there are tough negotiations going on behind the scenes. I spent many years as a risk management administrator representing my county's interests in court, some of which were criminal matters perpetuated by employees. The DA has invested a lot of time and effort and no doubt has a slam dunk case. He is not likely to cut much of a deal for them and the defendants will not change their pleas until an agreement is reached or they go to trial.

Yes, continuances have gone on, and are continuing to go on for the other three defendants.  According to District Attorney, Elizabeth Henderson, it looks very likely that a plea deal will most likely happen for one more of the other defendants this Friday, April 2nd, but she was not at liberty to tell me who that defendant might be.  She said it was possible the other two defendants might strike a deal this Friday, as well, but it was looking extremely likely for one particular defendant only. 

Deputy District Attorney Thomas Schultz was not available for comment because his wife was having a baby and he was at the hospital.  Thus, the voice mail message I left for him reasonably was not answered.

Cara's attorney, Brian Gurwitz, returned my phone call and spoke to me personally.  He stated that in his opinion Cara was a good person and was a pleasure to work for.  He had very good things to say about her, and has given her counsel on how to make her way back into the working world and into society.  Brian said some things off the record and was careful in what he expressed.   But he did say specifically on the record, Cara never received a single penny from the criminal conduct Hector and Rene orchestrated.� 

I was thunderstruck by this statement and was speechless for a moment.  I struggled for what next to ask.  I stammered.  Well, if she didn't do it for money, and didn't even receive a penny for committing felony grand theft, why did she do it?  I expressed to Gurwitz haltingly that this just didn't make sense.  I asked more questions in various awkward ways, and he was hesitant to give me definite answers. He didn't really want to conjecture, and he asked me to put him off the record again.  But what he eventually did state on the record with confidence is, "There are other motives to do things."� 

We can all guess at what that means. What does it mean?  Does it mean that Hector was her Svengali and that Cara fell under his spell and did whatever he asked?  Here's another question that I have finally asked myself, "Was Cara a Stepford wife? And here's even another question, "Was Hector a kind of Jim Jones?"�Brian Gurwitz assured me that the court had all of Cara's bank records, and that no monies from Rene Montes were ever transferred into her account.

But, still, so many questions remain.  And now it's extremely likely that Cara Cruz-Thompson will be out of jail and back in the real world on May 7th 2010. Thus, we will have the opportunity to ask her questions directly. Brian Gurwitz explained that he negotiated her sentencing to happen on May 7th because that is the first Friday after she will have spent one year in jail, as she was arrested on exactly May 6th 2009, and sentencings always happen on Fridays.  So, with good time/work time credits, which reduce the amount of time actually served, Cara's one year in jail will count as full credit for 2 years in State Prison.  So, although she is getting an official and formal sentence to 2 years in State Prison, she will be able to pack up her stuff and check out of Orange County Jail at Midnight of May 7th 2010 and go home. 

So, yes, Cara will be let out of jail on Friday night, May 7th, and will never actually step foot in a State Prison.  This is what her attorney Brian Gurwitz negotiated for her, which is pretty right on according to what Cara told me she wanted and expected she could get when I interviewed her in jail on December 2nd 2009.  She believed that a private attorney of the finest rank could get her out of jail, and she turned out to be right.  Her brother, Daniel Lambert, really came through for her, as he was the one who raised and gathered the money and did the research to find Brian Gurwitz and hire him.

Now we'll see next what Gil Carreon does for Hector, and what Fred McBride does for Rene Montes, and Mary Kreber does for George Martinez.  We'll see if anyone cuts the next deal this Friday, April 2nd.  Once the first deal is cut, I've been told, it usually breaks the ice.  So, we'll see what thaws out next.

Readers may write to writer Lonce LaMon at lonce@adjustercom.com