Judge’s aide charged with 94 counts of fraud

A former personal secretary to a federal judge has been indicted on 94 counts of fraud for allegedly stealing more than $250,000 from her former boss.

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. has been the primary judge in Lodi’s ongoing contamination litigation.

Heather L. Coleman, 51, was indicted on 13 counts of mail fraud and 81 counts of bank fraud by a federal grand jury Thursday. If convicted on all counts, she could face 30 years in prison.

Coleman is accused of stealing from Damrell by using blank checks from the judge’s brokerage account and the judge’s signature stamp. Coleman used the checks to pay her credit card bills, pay off a car loan and make her mortgage payments, according to the indictment.

She also took checks for the Damrells’ checking account and made them payable to herself, again using the signature stamp, the indictment alleges.

Coleman was Damrell’s secretary from the time he took his seat on the federal bench in December 1997 to her termination after the judge discovered the theft in April 2004.

Coleman was charged with the theft in June. She withdrew her guilty plea to one count of mail fraud a week ago. The terms of that plea had called for her to serve five years on probation and repay $227,274 to Damrell.

But U.S. District Judge Justin L. Quackenbush of Spokane, Wash., who was assigned to the case after all the federal judges in Sacramento recused themselves, said he wanted Coleman to serve some prison time. That led to her withdrawing the plea.

Damrell and his wife also filed a civil lawsuit against Coleman, claiming a loss of more than $450,000. That suit was settled when Coleman agreed to repay the $227,274.