A former Pasadena public works analyst and a contractor were sentenced today for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in city money over a decade, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Danny Wooten (dob 4/07/63) was sentenced to 14 years in state prison, while co-defendant Tyrone Collins (dob 10/12/59) received a 7-year term.
In November, Wooten was found guilty of 53 counts, including embezzlement, conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds. Collins was convicted of 20 counts, including embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.
Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd of the Public Integrity Division prosecuted the case.
Wooten was a management analyst in the city’s Public Works Department, which was in charge of relocating all of the city’s utility lines underground. Between 2004 and March 2014, Wooten created false invoices for the underground utility program and stole roughly $3.5 million.
He funneled some of the stolen money to Collins, who owns Collins Electric, the prosecutor said.
Wooten also created bank accounts purporting to represent two religious organizations. However, he was the only person on the account, the prosecutor said.
The scheme was discovered in 2014 when the city ordered an audit.
At today’s hearing, Wooten was ordered to pay $3,695,891 in restitution and Collins was ordered to pay $900,000, the prosecutor added.
Case BA430233 was investigated by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation and the City of Pasadena.
