County Accuses Bay Area Sheriff Of Affair With Staffer And Punishing Whistleblowers

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — As the San Mateo County Sheriff fights to remain in office, new details have emerged in court documents detailing a conflict of interest with a close member of her staff and the controversial arrest of a deputy union leader.

A report that the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is using to defend their decision to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus from her position has been made public by the sheriff’s own legal team.

The “Keker Report,” which was conducted on behalf of the county by the law firm Keker, Van Nest and Peters, said "Sheriff Corpus violated conflict of interest laws and neglected her duties," while she also "demonstrated a pattern of retaliating against [sheriff] personnel she perceives threaten her," and a top staffer, according to the 300-page court document filed in San Mateo County Superior Court on June 27.

Corpus is denying the allegations and appealing the San Mateo Board of Supervisors' decision to remove her.

Corpus is currently facing an evidentiary hearing with the San Mateo Board of Supervisors after she appealed their unanimous decision to remove her from office. Meanwhile, on June 30, a civil grand jury in the San Mateo Superior Court accused her of a conflict of interest and retaliation.

“If someone comes to me and makes a complaint and alleges that a trusted law enforcement officer is doing something that goes against policy or that is illegal, I have to look into it. I can’t just put it aside or sweep it under the rug. Those days are gone, and we have to hold each other accountable,” Corpus said in a pre-removal conference in response to allegations that she retaliated against whistleblowers.

Accusations Made Public

The previously concealed Keker Report was made public after Corpus’ lawyers filed a petition June 27 for a restraining order against the Board of Supervisors in an attempt to halt removal proceedings, the county confirmed.

Hundreds of pages of documents released included the notice of intent to remove the sheriff, the Keker Report, a transcript of the pre-removal conference before Chief Probation Officer John Keene, and Keene’s recommendation to proceed with the sheriff’s removal.

Corpus’ lawyers from the Murphy, Pearson, Bradley and Feeney law firm submitted to the court documents related to the removal process.

“They did not, however, file these documents under seal and therefore, they were publicly posted on the Superior Court’s website. Neither the County nor its attorneys were involved in the filing of these documents nor their posting by the court,” said Effie Milionis Verducci, the interim director of strategic communications from the San Mateo County Executive’s Office.

The sheriff’s legal team has not responded to multiple requests for comments.

Personal Relationship With Top Staffer Investigated

The Keker report claims that after she took office, Corpus created the “Executive Director of Administration” role and hired a man to whom she appeared closer than professionally appropriate and efforts were made to conceal their relationship, according to the report. The position was not posted, and he was the only applicant, according to the report.

Corpus’s lawyer, Thomas Mazzucco denied the allegations in the pre-removal conference hearing.

“The broad, wide-ranging allegations are rife [sic] with hearsay, gossip, and rumors,” Mazzucco said, according to the pre-removal conference transcript.

The man Corpus hired is a real estate broker who operates a small private investigation service. He has also volunteered as a part-time reserve deputy with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office for many years but has never been a full-time peace officer or worked full-time with any law enforcement agency, according to the report.

Corpus said she knew him and his family for almost 18 years. She paid his daughter to work on her campaign and to do Corpus’s social media during her run for sheriff.

Corpus said she later hired him because of his time as a level-one reserve, working in the organization, volunteering his time for over 18 years to the organization, but then also because he shared the same vision of 21st-century policing and because she knew of other police departments that have hired command staff that were civilians, according to the pre-removal conference transcript.

County and sheriff personnel repeatedly attempted to report Corpus' chief of staff for misconduct such as ignoring direct orders and speaking about an internal affairs investigation with a key witness, according to the report. Despite these complaints, Corpus sought to promote him and raise his salary on at least five separate occasions, the report stated.

“No one ever brought any of their gripes or anything to me,” Corpus said in the pre-removal conference.

Corpus claims her chief of staff was removed from his position because county staff assumed they were romantically involved and because of resentment about a civilian taking a command staff position, according to the pre-removal conference transcript.

The report claims that multiple witnesses saw Corpus and her employee attempt to conceal their relationship. Among them is Valerie Barnes, a civilian SMCSO employee and friend of Corpus, who assisted on her campaign, according to the report.

The Keker report stated Barnes had witnessed the employee massaging Corpus’ neck, shoulders and feet on several occasions, and in one instance, saw them exchange a kiss on the lips. Barnes also said the man told her that he and Corpus were “practicing to have a lot of kids.” During the campaign, Corpus was married. She and her husband filed for divorce in April 2023, which became final later that year.

The Keker report also cited Barnes claiming the man had used cash to purchase luxury boots and a pair of earrings worth $12,000 for Corpus to avoid detection.

Sheriff Corpus's decision to hire, promote and seek salary raises for a man she had a close personal relationship with while also ignoring multiple warnings about his detrimental effect on the SMCSO, "violates California and County conflict-of-interest laws and constitutes repeated and flagrant neglect of her duties defined by law," the report stated. "The actions constitute cause for removal."

Corpus has denied all claims that she had a romantic relationship with a member of her staff. At a June hearing, Corpus claimed that Barnes was making accusations against her because she did not promote Barnes after she helped on Corpus’ campaign.

"The recent allegations being circulated in the media are categorically false, defamatory, and politically motivated. I deny in the strongest possible terms any wrongdoing, misconduct, or impropriety during my tenure with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office," the Corpus staffer linked to her in the report said in a statement emailed to Patch.

Her chief of staff said he and Corpus have a strong professional relationship, common among elected officials and their appointees. He called accusations regarding his appointment "baseless, discriminatory, and retaliatory."

The County's amplification of these unverified claims, instead of investigating them, raises legal and ethical concerns and may constitute unlawful retaliation, he told Patch.

Retaliation And Controversial Arrest

The Keker report further delves into the details of the warrantless arrest of a deputy sheriff’s union president.

In August 2024, the Deputy Sheriff’s Association filed a complaint against Corpus with the Public Employment Relations Board, which included accusations of misconduct against Corpus's top aide. Deputy Carlos Tapia, the DSA president, submitted a declaration in support of the complaint, according to the Keker Report.

In October 2024, Corpus ordered acting Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox to investigate Tapia for timecard fraud. Corpus misrepresented the basis for the investigation and limited evidence available to Fox, including preventing him from looking at timecard records and speaking to witnesses, the report alleged.

Fox recommended placing Tapia on administrative leave, but Corpus refused. In November 2024, Corpus instructed Fox to inform the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office of her intent to arrest Tapia, according to the report. Fox spoke to the Chief DA who urged him not to proceed with the warrantless arrest, the report stated.

Corpus nevertheless ordered Tapia to be arrested that same day, an hour before a labor negotiation with the DSA, the report alleges. It was also known that the county was planning to release the results of an independent investigation conducted by Judge LaDoris Cordell into the conduct of Corpus’ and her chief of staff.

Corpus claimed to have no involvement with the investigation in the pre-removal conference transcript.

However, the Keker Report contends members of the Sheriff’s Executive Team suspected Cordell had interviewed Tapia as part of the investigation, and that Corpus hoped Tapia’s arrest would undermine the report’s validity.

An independent investigation by the DA’s office confirmed Tapia did not commit a crime and that “there was no basis to believe any violation of law had occurred” and that “Deputy Tapia should not have been arrested,” the report stated. He remains on administrative leave, according to the report.

In a June pre-removal hearing, Corpus denied that Tapia's arrest was politically motivated. She claimed that another lieutenant of hers had been told by the DA’s office there was probable cause for Tapia’s arrest.

The report includes many additional allegations of retaliation such as Corpus terminating Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan right after he was interviewed by Cordell.

Corpus claimed she terminated Monaghan because he was emboldening other captains to be insubordinate and that he was leaking information to County Executive Mike Callagy, according to the pre-removal conference transcript.

Corpus Denies All At Pre-removal Meeting

Attached in the petition was the full transcript of Corpus’ interview during her pre-removal hearing in June, which was previously unreleased.

During the meeting, which took over two hours, Corpus denied nearly every claim put forth in the report. She said she was retaliated against because she “didn’t kiss the ring” of the former administration under Sheriff Carlos Bolanos.

“These individuals that primarily are the complainants were my predecessor's supporters and they were winning on that team. And so I’m trying to make things more equitable,” Corpus said in the pre-removal conference.

She said County Executive Callagy operates like a “godfather” leading with a “mafia” approach and has a gang of deputies trying to undermine her.

“Individuals feel emboldened because they feel that they can go to the County Executive and be protected,” Corpus said in the pre-removal conference. “It’s made it really hard for me to hold anyone accountable. The word retaliation is immediately thrown out there.”

The board of supervisors released the findings of an independent investigation May 22 into complaints made by the sheriff against Callagy, clearing him of all misconduct accusations.

During the hearing, Corpus claimed she was the victim of retaliation by disgruntled colleagues.

“And the worst part about this [is] that there’s cops lying, people are lying. And that really bothers me because if they’re lying in this arena, what are they doing out when they’re serving our community members?” she said.

Corpus has formally appealed to the board of supervisors, which will trigger a review hearing in the next 30 to 60 days, according to San Mateo County officials.

Corpus is also expected to appear in court on July 15 in response to the civil grand jury accusation.

The sheriff’s legal team has not responded to requests for comments despite multiple attempts.