New Embezzlement Charges Put Troubled Ex-Stockton Mayor Back In Spotlight

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) — The San Joaquin County District Attorney's office has filed more criminal charges against former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva and his former assistant.

The charges are in a separate criminal filing from the indictment filed against him in 2017.

Among the eight new charges are allegations Silva embezzled thousands of public dollars from his city of Stockton mayoral discretionary account, sending funds to the nonprofit The Stockton Boys and Girls Club. The criminal complaint alleges he then embezzled funds from that account too.

Silva stepped down as CEO of the Stockton Boys and Girls Club in 2013 amid an investigation into the group's finances. The national group pulled the Stockton chapter's charter in December 2013.

His attorney says Silva is innocent.

"We categorically deny these allegations," Attorney Allen Sawyer said. "It's like getting a cancer diagnosis. You just can't get away from it no matter how hard he fights."

The new complaint also adds Silva's one-time executive assistant Sharon Simas to the embezzlement charges. Celebrated for her longtime commitment to Stockton charities, her attorney Ken Rosenfeld issued a statement reading:

"It's shameful the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office is trying to strong arm a 76-year-old woman who has dedicated more than half a century to serving Stockton, and is also a former Stocktonian of the year."

Besides embezzlement allegations, the district attorney also included a charge against Silva for possessing a prohibited firearm—an AR-15 style assault rifle. An Amador County judge ruled Silva cannot possess guns, as part of a protective order from a separate case in 2017.

Sawyer says the gun was registered and Silva was unaware of the ruling.

"It's a legal gun you can own," Sawyer said. "There's nothing illegal about owning an AR-15."

Sawyer and Simas are both due in court on Oct. 16.

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