Escondido trustee to face fraud trial

Escondido School trustee Jose Fragozo will face trial on 13 felony counts related to allegations that he misrepresented his place of residence to win election, a Superior Court Judge ruled Wednesday.

Fragozo has been charged with perjury, false voter registration, filing false election documents and other counts linked to complaints that he doesn’t live in the voting district where he was elected.

After testimony in a two-day preliminary hearing this week, San Diego Superior Court Judge Blaine Bowman said the evidence exceeds the standard required to bring the case to trial.

Fragozo rented an apartment in a heavily Latino neighborhood in central Escondido in 2012, immediately prior to filing his candidacy papers for a seat representing the Escondido Union School District’s electoral Region 1.

Prosecutors argue that he actually lives in his longtime home in the north Escondido suburb of Hidden Meadows, which is in the district’s electoral Region 5. Escondido Union School District switched from at-large to district-based elections in 2012 to encourage more diverse school board representation.

During testimony Tuesday and Wednesday, prosecutors argued that motor vehicle, cellphone and tax records show that Fragozo lived primarily at his home on Crooked Oak Lane in Hidden Meadows, not at an apartment on South Maple Street, which he listed as his address with the Registrar of Voters.

They also cited statements by Fragozo’s neighbors, acquaintances and family members that suggested he continued to live at the Hidden Meadows home after his election.

“There is substantial evidence — overwhelming evidence — that the domicile of the defendant ... is at Crooked Oak Lane,” Bowman said.

The domicile refers to the primary address where a person lives and intends to return.

Fragozo’s attorney, Victor Torres, said the testimony presented in the preliminary hearing may have been enough to move the case forward, but it falls far short of proving that Fragozo didn’t live in the apartment while serving on the school board.

“It’s a very low burden for the prosecutors,” Torres said, of the threshold set in a preliminary hearing. “The trial is for the jury to determine the facts beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Deputy District Attorney Leon Schorr said he’s confident that prosecutors will be able to prove their allegations when the case goes to trial this year.

“We’re happy the judge saw it the way we do,” Schorr said.

Fragozo’s arraignment is set for May 18, at San Diego Superior Court in Vista.