Former County Clerk-Recorder Canciamilla Charged With 34 Felonies

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA— Former Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder Joseph Canciamilla was charged with 34 felony counts Wednesday involving his campaign expenditures between 2010 and 2016, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office announced.

Thirty of the felony counts accuse Canciamilla, a Pittsburg resident who also served as a county supervisor and as a California state assemblyman, of perjury for signing and filing misstatements on 30 separate campaign disclosure forms, the DA's Office said.

All politicians are required to turn in the documents, which are known as Form 460s.

In the other four felony counts, Canciamilla is accused of grand theft by using $261,800.68 of his campaign funds for personal use. It is alleged that beginning in 2010 until 2016, he used money from his campaign committees to pay for a personal vacation to Asia, eat at restaurants, purchase airline tickets and repay a personal loan he'd taken out.

It is also alleged that he transferred money from his campaign bank accounts to his personal bank accounts.

According to the DA's Office, the misstated campaign statements started in 2010 when Canciamilla did not report investment gains in a campaign bank account. While it is a permissible practice, using the proceeds of any stock gains for personal use is illegal.

Canciamilla is accused of concealing these investment gains and losses from his Form 460s. It is alleged that because Canciamilla ultimately spent more on personal expenses than the unreported investment gains, he had to transfer personal funds into this campaign bank account to make up the difference.

"In total, the false statements signed by Canciamilla omitted critical information from the campaign finance disclosures," Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton said. "The information left off these forms left the public in the dark about how a candidate and then countywide elected official spent campaign funds. Given the recent history of misconduct by various elected officials in Contra Costa County, Canciamilla’s behavior is troubling and he must be held accountable."

The state Franchise Tax Board notified the DA’s Office in early 2017 about Canciamilla's possible criminal activity.

The DA's Office launched a criminal investigation that involved hundreds of hours examining seven different bank accounts held by the defendant, according to Scott Alonso, spokesman for the DA's Office.

"The two primary financial institutions Canciamilla used were Contra Costa Federal Credit Union and Charles Schwab," Alonso said.

The statements signed by Canciamilla included various campaign accounts, such as his campaign account for judge, "Friends of Joe Canciamilla for Judge 2012," and campaign account for clerk-recorder, "Joe Canciamilla Canciamilla for Contra Costa County Clerk/Recorder," Alonso said.

Canciamilla abruptly resigned from his position as county clerk-recorder in October 2019.

The following month, he was fined by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

The FPPC fined Canciamilla $150,000 in a civil stipulation for the multiple errors in his campaign finance statements, which concealed the personal use of campaign funds for his own benefit, Alonso said.

Canciamilla is scheduled to make his first court appearance July 27.