A former junior college police officer pleaded guilty to stealing more than $250,000 from campus parking machines at a Northern California campus.

Jeffrey Holzworth, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft and 11 counts of receiving stolen property after prosecutors alleged he had been stealing coins and currency at Santa Rosa Junior College during the final seven years of a 28-year law-enforcement career, according to the Press Democrat.

The veteran college police officer came under suspicion when his colleagues reported seeing him with bundles of $1 and $5 bills, as well as collecting money from the machines at odd hours, the newspaper reported.

Holzworth was arrested in November 2012 after detectives followed him with a GPS tracking device, according to the Press Democrat.


In all, Holzworth admitted to stealing $287,000 from the machines but will be sentenced to no more than four years in state prison as part of the plea agreement, KTVU and Press Democrat reported.

Prosecutors also charged Holzworth’s wife, Karen, with being an accessory to the crime and being in possession of stolen property. Her preliminary hearing began Wednesday.

matt.stevens@latimes.com




Twitter: @MattStevensLAT

