Amen
Rahh sentenced to three years probation
Jeff Overley/On-line Forty-Niner
Citizens
gather outside a Compton courtroom Thursday
in support of Cal State Long Beach Professor
Amen Rahh and two other defendants. Rahh
received probation when he was sentenced
on Friday.
Law:
The CSULB professor receives a lighter punishment
than his co-defendants because of mitigating
circumstances.
By
Jeff Overley
On-line Forty-Niner
Onlookers
in a Compton courtroom burst into loud applause
and howls of glee Friday as Cal State Long
Beach professor Amen Rahh avoided prison
time at his sentencing in a felony case
involving misuse of public funds.
Rahh,
the first head of CSULB’s black studies
department, was convicted in February of
misappropriation and making an unauthorized
loan while a member of the Compton City
Council. Former Mayor Omar Bradley and City
Manager John Johnson were convicted along
with him.
But
while Bradley and Johnson were sentenced
to three years in state prison, Rahh was
granted probation as a result of numerous
mitigating factors that Judge Jack W. Morgan
took into consideration. Most important
among them, the judge noted, were Rahh’s
early attempts to confess his culpability.
“[This]
is a situation where an individual has very
emphatically expressed remorse. Furthermore,
he sought at the beginning to admit guilt,”
Morgan said. “I think it’s important
if someone can stand up and say, ‘Yeah,
I did it. I was wrong.’”
Rahh
had attempted to plead guilty prior to the
start of his three-month long trial, but
an unknown number of the other four defendants
— two of who were ultimately acquitted
— had refused to do so, thus quashing
the deal.
At Friday’s sentencing, Rahh again
apologized for his actions.
“I
want to ask God’s forgiveness. I want
to say I’m sorry for the problems
I’ve caused,” he said. “I
ask for the forgiveness of Cal State Long
Beach for staining the reputation of its
students and faculty.”
In
addition to a three-year probation sentence,
Rahh was also given a one-year term in county
jail. But overcrowding at county jail means
that inmates only serve 10 percent of sentences.
Since Rahh already had 141 days of credit
due to time served and good behavior, he
was expected to be released in a few days
after his processing was complete.
Rahh
was ordered to pay about $8,300 in restitution
and perform 250 hours of community service.
In
declaring the more lenient punishment, the
judge also said that Rahh had far less experience
in public service relative to Bradley and
Johnson, who had acted as public officials
for 10 and 20 years, respectively. Therefore,
Rahh could be forgiven to some extent for
not knowing the legalities of using city
credit cards for personal expenditures,
the judge said. The cards first were issued
on July 13, 1999, two weeks after Rahh joined
the council.
The
judge also noted the outpouring of support
voiced for Rahh. Morgan said that he had
received 56 letters praising Rahh’s
community service, “much more”
than he received on behalf of either Bradley
or Johnson.
Scores
of people showed up to support Rahh and
the other defendants on Thursday and on
Friday, when the previous day’s hearing
was continued.
After
Friday’s ruling, throngs of elated
supporters streamed joyously from the courtroom,
trading embraces and expressing their relief.
“I’m
very satisfied. I believe Professor Rahh
has been a great part of the community,”
said Frank Oliver, an English and black
studies double major at CSULB “We
should look at the good he’s done
— it far outweighs the discrepancies.”
Rahh’s
younger brother, Animashaun, said he was
happy for his brother, but that he was not
fully satisfied.
“That
was justice. The same thing should have
happened for the others,” he said.
All
three men were accused of similar offenses
relating to the misappropriation of public
monies. Rahh, for example, was found guilty
of using $1,200 to pay for his brother’s
dentures.
He
rang up $6,100 in personal expenses and
also engaged in nearly $6,700 in double
billings in which he obtained cash advances
from the city, pocketed the money and then
used his municipal credit card to charge
the expense, prosecutors said.
Al
DeBlanc, Rahh’s attorney, argued during
the trial that these actions were never
intended to defraud the public and that
Rahh had reimbursed the city for his personal
purchases.
But
Deputy District Attorneys Terry Bork and
Kerry White countered that not only were
the claims implausible, but also that this
nonetheless amounted to taking an unauthorized
loan from taxpayer coffers. The prosecution,
however, raised no objection to the ruling
granting probation to Rahh.
Toni
Beron, CSULB’s assistant vice president
for public affairs, said that Rahh had announced
his retirement following his conviction.
It was unclear Friday whether Rahh would
seek to return to his position as a professor
or if such a return would even be allowed.
But one supporter at the sentencing was
hopeful.
“For
the benefit of the students at Long Beach
State, I would hope that the university
would invite him to take back his position,”
said David Love, a former president of CSULB’s
African Student Union. “It’s
an atrocity that [Rahh] was even in a prison
cell in the first place.”
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