Businessman is sentenced

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Glendale resident Scott Schaffer was sentenced in United States District Court on Monday to 13 months in prison for trading firearms to gang members in exchange for drugs.

Schaffer and his then-girlfriend, former Burbank Councilwoman Stacey Murphy, were arrested in July 2005 during a joint federal and local law-enforcement crackdown on a San Fernando Valley-based street gang. Murphy pleaded guilty in December 2005 to felony cocaine possession and child endangerment charges.

A former commissioner on the Glendale Water and Power Board, Schaffer owned several taxi-cab companies that operated in Glendale and Burbank. He parlayed his business success into support for local political candidates, including Rep. Adam Schiff and the campaigns of Glendale City Councilmen Bob Yousefian, Ara Najarian, Frank Quintero and Dave Weaver. In Burbank, Schaffer contributed funds to the campaigns of Councilmen Dave Golonski, Jef Vander Borght and Todd Campbell.

Judge John Walter's decision on Monday — handed down in a courtroom packed with Schaffer supporters — fell eight months shy of government prosecutors' recommendation of 21 months in prison.

Schaffer's lesser sentence was due, in part, to an outpouring of letters submitted to the court on Schaffer's behalf, Walter said. One letter in particular, from former Burbank Police Department Lt. Don Brown, described Schaffer in "glowing" terms, Walter said.

"There has been no case when I received more letters on behalf of a criminal defendant," he said.

A bulk of the letters came from fellow Alcoholics Anonymous members, who also comprised the majority of supporters in the court room on Monday.

But Brown's letter outraged many officials within the Burbank Police Department, who criticize him for submitting a letter of support for a convicted felon who supplied guns to a member of the same gang implicated in the shooting death of Officer Matthew Pavelka in November 2003.

"We're livid," Burbank Police Lt. Pat Lynch said. "From the chief on down … to have a retired lieutenant make a statement like that — I can only speak for myself, but I'm livid. I feel like he betrayed the department."

If Brown's testimony indeed contributed to the reduced sentence, his words reflect a great disservice to his work with the department, Burbank Police Chief Thomas Hoefel said.

"If that is true, that's a tremendous breach of integrity to throw away 40 years of service to the Police Department to provide a recommendation for a felon," he said.

Prior to his sentencing, Schaffer addressed the court in an emotional plea, accepting responsibility for his crimes and expressing regret for the loss of an eight-year relationship with Murphy and her children.

"I made a multitude of bad decisions," he said. "I clearly learned from my mistakes … but Stacey and her kids have to deal with the shame of the choices that I made. They may as well be standing up here right next to me."

But the need for jail time for the offense was indisputable, Walter said, because Schaffer's crime put "instruments of death" in the hands of violent criminals.

Schaffer will begin his sentence on April 2.