SANTA CRUZ >> Just weeks shy of a scheduled jury trial, the remaining four defendants in the high-profile 2011 Occupy Santa Cruz protest case accepted plea deals of community service, probation and $1,500 in restitution payments to Wells Fargo.
The deal with the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office, which maintained one count of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, dropped an earlier felony vandalism charge for each of the activists charged. Brent Adams, Franklin Alcantara, Cameron Laurendeau and Gabriella Ripley-Phipps will each face 18 months probation, 100 hours of volunteer service with a nonprofit, are ordered to stay away from the former bank building and pay $150 in court fees.
Last year, Deputy District Attorney Greg Peinado had called for an estimated $25,000 total restitution payments for Wells Fargo, an amount to be split by four defendants identified as “leaders” in a three-day November 2011 takeover of the vacant former Wells Fargo at 75 River St. An estimated 50 to 150 people staged the bank occupation protest after weeks of other actions.
Defense attorneys earlier argued that there was no proof that their clients were specifically behind the vandalism damage, and questioned the fairness of putting the full burden of restitution repayments onto one small subgroup.
The four were the last remaining defendants in what was originally an 11-member group. Charges against fellow protesters Robert Norse, Becky Johnson, Desiree Foster, Grant Wilson, Bradley Allen, Alex Darocy and Edward Rector, were dismissed in 2012 and 2013.
Adams, Alcantara and Ripley-Phipps pleaded no contest to the charge on July 14, and Laurendeau on July 22.
Most recently in the case, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Stephen Siegel denied in September defendants’ attempts to have former District Attorney Bob Lee dismissed from the case for alleged conflict of interest due to past business dealings with Wells Fargo.
