Web Site Alleges Police Conspiracy Against De La Fuente's Son
Posted: 7:20 pm PDT September 17, 2007Updated: 8:12 pm PDT September 17, 2007
OAKLAND -- Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said Monday that he has no doubt that the son of Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente is guilty of sexually assaulting four women despite a new Web site's allegation that the son was framed in a political vendetta. Orloff said, "I'm very satisfied that everything was done appropriately" in the case of Ignacio Rafael De La Fuente Jr., 34, who suddenly halted his trial on May 3 to plead guilty to sexually assaulting four women ranging in age from 15 to 24 during an 18-month period between October of 2003 and April of 2005. De La Fuente Jr. had faced multiple life sentences if he'd been convicted of all the charges against him, but prosecutors agreed to drop three kidnapping enhancement clauses in return for his guilty plea. His negotiated plea calls for him to receive a 14-year state prison term when he's sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Allan Hymer on Oct. 26. Oakland police declined to comment on allegations found on a Web site called delafuenteconspiracy.com that police investigators blew the case out of proportion because they wanted to destroy his political career as he ran for mayor in the 2006 election. Police spokesman Roland Holmgren said he would issue a statement today but he never did. De La Fuente Sr. normally is very talkative to the news media, but an aide said Monday he wouldn't be commenting on the Web site. The Web site alleges that even though De La Fuente Sr.'s son no longer faces life in prison, the case against him was an "injustice," the facts "didn't connect," the evidence was "questionable" and there were "obvious tell-tale signs of a classic set-up." The site says the De La Fuente family hired a private investigator who found "clear indications of police misconduct that included falsified and altered police reports, witness coercion and plain dirty politics." Although De La Fuente Sr. was endorsed by the powerful Oakland Police Officers Association in his unsuccessful campaign against Ron Dellums and other candidates in the 2006 election, the site alleges he "was openly disliked by more than a handful of Oakland's high-ranking police officers who felt he had 'too much power for a Mexican.'" The site says, "Not only did they not like the idea of him razing the scandal-plagued Oakland Police Department, he and others in the City Council had begun to scrutinize their over-inflated salaries, overtime, benefits and pension plans." In the trial of De La Fuente Jr., who is nicknamed "Nacho," three of his victims had already testified against him and the fourth was scheduled to testify the day he entered his guilty plea. All four victims testified at his preliminary hearing in June of 2006 and identified him as their attacker. DNA evidence also tied De La Fuente Jr. to two of the victims. Deputy District Attorney Brian Owens said three of the four women were prostitutes. He said it was unclear if the fourth woman, who was 15 when she was assaulted in April of 2005, was a prostitute. Orloff said, "The case was investigated by the police and my office and the system worked the way it was supposed to work." Orloff said De La Fuente Jr. "had his eyes wide open as to the evidence against him when he entered his guilty plea." Owens wasn't available for comment today, but on the day that De La Fuente Jr. entered his plea he said he spoke to jurors after they were dismissed and he's convinced they would have convicted De La Fuente Jr. The Web site re-hashes the allegations of the father and daughter defense team of Robert and Annie Beles during the trial that the sex between De La Fuente Jr. and the four women was consensual and the women pressed charges against him only because there were disputes over how much money he should pay them and other issues motivated by "prostitute's revenge." Robert Beles told jurors that De La Fuente Jr. frequently picked up prostitutes on the streets of the Fruitvale District represented by his father but said he's not a rapist. Owens painted a different picture of De La Fuente Jr. during the trial, alleging that in most instances he forced, or tried to force, the women to have sex with him even though he refused to pay them for their services. Owens said in one incident the alleged victim feared for her life and made up a ruse which allowed her to flee, half-naked, from De La Fuente's pickup truck and scream for help from passersby late at night. In a statement on the Web site, De La Fuente Jr. says "I am not without faults," "I am not a saint" and admits he "made some foolish choices in my life." He says, "I put myself in a position that enabled corrupted people of rank to hunt me, abuse their authority and in the end lock me up for their own personal and/or political gain." De La Fuente Jr. says he hopes the Web site "will raise public awareness of this raging epidemic of police corruption and abuse of authority which exists not only in Oakland but across America."
Copyright 2007 by KTVU.com and Bay City News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.













Tahoe Days, Reno Nights
Access The Diamond Certified Directory
Bay Area Crime Reports
The 4 Keys To Women’s Health
Earthquake Reports
Celebrity Gossip
Check Out The Top 10 Home Updates


