Stockton Unified School District Trustee AngelAnn Flores’ trial began with opening statements in San Joaquin County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors kicked off the trial by outlining allegations that Flores filed a false insurance claim related to a minor car accident and used a district-issued credit card for personal expenses. The defense argued the charges stem from political retaliation and Flores’ role as a whistleblower who provided the FBI with information about the district’s $7.3 million contract with IAQ Distribution, Inc.
In January, Flores was indicted by a San Joaquin County grand jury on three felony counts: making false or fraudulent claims, misappropriation of public funds and embezzlement by a public officer. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecution opens with insurance fraud allegations
At Tuesday’s hearing, supporters of Flores sat on the right side of the courtroom gallery, while about 20 San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office staffers filled the left. Some whispered as the jury was seated.
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Richard Mallett explained to the jury what an opening statement means, and that the defense and prosecutors have the right to make one.
“It’s not evidence,” Mallett said. “They’re not arguing their cases. An opening statement is kind of an overview or a roadmap of what they think the evidence will show.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Donald Vaughn then introduced himself to the jury. Vaughn said he and Detective Rocky Bulen of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office made up the prosecution team.
Vaughn asked the jurors to “focus on the evidence” throughout the proceedings rather than on what the prosecution or the defense says. He said the evidence in the case will come from exhibits and the witness stand.
Most of Vaughn’s opening statement centered on count one: making false or fraudulent claims. Vaughn said that on Nov. 15, 2022, Flores obtained car insurance for two of her vehicles. Three days later, on Nov. 18, 2022, Vaughn said Flores reported to her insurance company that she had been involved in a minor accident — a “fender bender” — at her workplace, UPS in Lathrop.
Randy Gaines, the other party involved in the accident, was driving his girlfriend Keona Morris’ car when the collision occurred at UPS, Vaughn said. The insurance company sent Flores and Morris links to upload photos of the damage and estimates to process the claim.
Vaughn said the claims adjuster, Stacy Maguire — who is expected to testify later in the proceedings — became suspicious when she noticed the claim was submitted by Flores a few days after the policy took effect. She referred the claim to the insurance company’s special investigations unit.
The claim was processed, and Morris was paid $2,010.68 by the insurance company based on Flores’ representation of the events, Vaughn said. Meanwhile, Andrew White, head of the company’s special investigations unit, began looking into the claim to determine whether it was legitimate.
As White was investigating the claim, Vaughn said he noticed that one of the submitted photos was taken on a Tuesday, which he considered unusual because the policy hadn’t taken effect until later that week.
Vaughn fast-forwarded to November 2023, when a search warrant was served on Flores. He said part of the warrant involved searching her phones. While Bulen was reviewing the phone as part of a separate investigation into the alleged misuse of district-issued credit cards, Vaughn said he found communications between Flores and Gaines.
“He doesn’t know anything about this at this point,” Vaughn said. “He doesn’t know that there’s this insurance claim out there.”
In text messages that were discovered, Vaughn said Flores told Gaines she had gotten insurance and they could file the claim, but to wait three days to “not make it look obvious.”
Vaughn then shifted to counts two and three: misappropriation of public funds and embezzlement by a public officer. He accused Flores of using her district-issued credit card for food and fuel purchases that exceeded what is permitted under district policy.
In the criminal complaint, prosecutors allege the credit card theft exceeded $950. However, they haven’t publicly said how much money in total they believe Flores misspent.
On multiple occasions, Vaughn acknowledged to the jury that the amount of money prosecutors allege she stole is “not a tremendous amount.”
“But that doesn’t matter,” Vaughn said. “What matters is that it’s district funds. Public money.”
Defense counters with allegations of political retaliation, media influence
Defense attorney Tori Verber Salazar countered by presenting a stack of documents and urging jurors to read the conversations in their entirety — not just the text messages the prosecution chose to show. She also displayed photos of Flores with families and students at district events.
Vaughn objected to Verber Salazar’s use of the photos, but Mallett allowed it, saying the images were part of Verber Salazar’s case.
“Sometimes when you come into the court of law, you forget we’re human beings, and we all have good days and bad days,” Verber Salazar said while showing the photos. “We struggle and we do our best with what we’ve got.”
Verber Salazar argued that the expenses cited by prosecutors, including meals, were related to field trips with students and families and had been approved by district officials. She showed jurors an expense form from a trip to Oregon and compared it to one filed by former Stockton Unified School District Trustee Cecilia Mendez. Verber Salazar said the lower totals on Mendez’s form reflected “accounting discrepancies,” not wrongdoing.
As part of the defense, Verber Salazar said Flores previously acted as an informant, cooperating with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the FBI in an investigation into a controversial air filtration contract between the Stockton Unified School District and IAQ. She said Flores turned to state and federal authorities because of 209 Times founder Motecuzoma Sanchez’s ties to San Joaquin County’s district attorney and sheriff.
Verber Salazar said Flores’ cooperation in the investigation made her a target. Flores was also targeted because she raised concerns about a pay-parking operation on an unused district lot allegedly run by Sanchez when he was the district’s director of family resources, Verber Salazar said.
Verber Salazar further accused Sanchez of running a pay-to-play group with 209 Times contributor Frank Gayaldo, whom she described as a close associate of Bulen. Verber Salazar said Gayaldo is the person who reported her client to the sheriff’s office and claimed Bulen “does exactly what the 209 Times tells him to do.”
Sanchez and Gayaldo are both listed as witnesses in the trial. While Verber Salazar gave her opening statement, Brenda Vasquez, a 209 Times contributor, sat in the gallery, covered her mouth and shook her head as Verber Salazar spoke. Vasquez left the courtroom before Verber Salazar concluded.
“One person fought all of those fights, and we are here because of that,” Verber Salazar said. “Nobody has done anything about the $7.3 million stolen. Nobody has been held accountable for the parking lot … we’re here because she had the courage to do what’s right.”
Flores continues to serve on the Stockton Unified School District Board of Trustees. Testimony in the case is scheduled to continue Wednesday and Friday in Department 6D of San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Trial of Stockton Unified Trustee AngelAnn Flores begins with opening statements
Reporting by Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record / The Record
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