This is a Probation Officer’s Report dated June 8, 1965 about Joseph A. Mazor, whose C.I.I.
[Criminal Identification and Information] No. is 2241869.
Date of birth: 6/25/39 • Caucasian • 2 years college
Born: Chicago, Illinois
In June 1965 he had a wife and 5 children; he was then 25 years of age.
He was employed by Ravenscroft Chevrolet as an automobile salesman at 6001 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, Calif.
He had been in the U. S. Army and was honorably discharged in 1962.
School: He attended Northwestern Naval Academy in 1955; University of Maryland for 2 years majoring in business law and administration.
He was raised in Chicago, Illinois by a grandfather and grandmother. The grandfather was a judge in Chicago. There are allusions in the report to him having a high school position but I don’t know what happened to his parents. The reports are rather hazy about that.
Work: He had various jobs, all in a kind of white collar area, the most recent Chicago was with an employment agency as an employment counselor. He was working with Long Barton & Associates in Los Angeles County in 1962 as an employment counselor. Shortly thereafter the company failed. He next worked for an engineering maintenance firm for 3 or 4 months. There is a letter in his file that discusses why that firm went down the tubes; he couldn’t get financing. He had various jobs for very short periods of time.
The crime for which this report was written is that in March 8, 1963 he was arrested for 3 counsel false checks, sentenced to State Prison, paroled June 18, 1964.
Then he worked as a car salesman till April 1, 1965, when he was arrested as a parole violator for violating his 1964 parole.
Marital History: He married Peta Cox July 1958 in England, had 5 children. As of the date of the 1965 report, the children were living with her mother in San Fernando, and they were being supported by State Aid.
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Prior Criminal History: March 29, 1957[:] Westchester County Parkway Police, Hawthorne, New York – He was charged with AWOL (US Army), possession of a switchblade knife. The sentence was suspended and he was returned to his military unit.
June 14, 1960[:] U. S. A. Support Center (I don’t know what this is) Chicago, Illinois – inquiry, no disposition.
November 26, 1960[:] Police Department, Ormond Beach, Worthless checks, 2 counts. Returned to his military unit in Zolusia [Volusia] County, Florida November 27, 1960 with a notation, “Restitution and Charges.” I don’t know whether that means they preferred military charges or what.
November 9, 1961[:] Police Department, Highwood Heights, Chicago, Illinois – Fraud. March 3, 1961, Criminal Court, Cook County, Chicago, Illinois. Found guilty of false pretenses; probation for 2 years on condition that he make restitution of $580 at the rate of $50 per month, first payment due May 1, 1961. The probation was due to expire March 3, 1963. Although that there was a notation, apparently Mazor had told the Probation Officer that his grandfather or uncle or someone had paid off the $580 and had made restitution. However, a telegram was sent by the Probation Officer to Cook County and the reply was that no restitution had been made and no payments have been made on account thereof. (At this point I want to indicate that in some of the photocopies there is a transcript of Judge Wright’s comments when he sentenced Mazor, and he brought that out, that he had lied in connection with that.)
May 12, 1961[:] Police Department, Parkridge, Illinois – Bogus checks. No disposition shown.
October 9, 1961[:] Cook County Jail, Chicago, Illinois – False pretenses. Released on his own recognizance.
November 9, 1962[:] Los Angeles Police Department – Suspicion 476A Penal Code (checks nonsufficient funds)
February 1, 1963, Department 114, Superior Court, Case No. 265867, sentenced to 180 days in County Jail, given three years probation on condition that he do 60 days in County Jail, that he make restitution, that he have no blank checks in his possession, that he not engage in gambling or bookmaking, that he cooperate with his Probation Officer in a plan for psychological treatment, that his residence and employment would be as approved by his Probation Officer, and that he would obey all laws. The defendant
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Mazor was found in violation of probation on April 2, 1963 in Dept. 114, Judge Nutter, and his probation was revoked; he served 180 days in jail. That was concurrently with whatever other charges he might have had at that time.
January 2, 1963[:] Police Department, Burbank 476A Penal Code (checks nonsufficient funds). Defendant Mazor was charged in information no. 269421 with a violation of 476A Penal Code, 3 counts; he made a guilty plea in Dept. 100 to each of the 3 counts, and he was referred to the Probation Department for a report. On March 8, 1963 in Dept. 100, Judge Wright denied probation and defendant was sentenced to State Prison on counts 1, 2 and 3 to run concurrently. There is a copy of the sentence; he was sentenced to State Prison for the term prescribed by law. (There is a little dissertation by Judge Wright concerning him in the record that we have.) He entered California State Prison under the assigned number A77153 on March 9, 1963 to serve 6 months to 14 years. He was paroled on June 18, 1964 with a tentative date of discharge from the parole on March 19, 1966, which incidentally he didn’t come through with because the parole was subsequently revoked. The checks on all three counts were written on the Security First National Bank, Downey Plaza Branch, and cashed at Gelson’s Market, 3525 West Victory Blvd., Burbank, for a total of $170.
Present offense: The defendant while in jail as a parole violator was arrested by detectives of the San Fernando Police Department on or about April 13, 1965 on suspicion of a fictitious check. On May 17, 1965 in Dept. 100, the defendant pled guilty. The facts are as follows: Defendant wrote a fictitious check in the sum of $350 and deposited the check in his checking account on December 23, 1964 at Security First National Bank, San Fernando Branch. The check was to be drawn on the account of one Frank Padellie, whose account was to be at the Bank of America, 4977 Market Street, San Francisco, California. No such branch of the Bank of America exists in San Francisco and the defendant knew it. The defendant claimed that the bogus check was written with the consent of the bank’s loan officer as part of a loan arrangement he had with the bank. the parole agent described the defendant as a “con man type, manipulator” and possessive of a pleasing personality. He said he was a compulsive check writer. His parole supervisor when contacted by the probation officer said his progress had not been satisfactory and he recommended that he not continue on parole. Parenthetically it should be pointed out that when he made his petition for habeas corpus, he represented to the federal judge that the current offense, which was the 1965 thing he was sentenced on, was the same
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set of circumstances of the 1963 thing. However, he lied in that because the 1963 thing was filed in 1963, the nsf [nonsufficient funds] checks, and the bogus check that was written on the 1965 charge wasn’t deposited until December 1964. He just plain lied to the federal court in that instance.
The conclusion was that this glib defendant is a compulsive check writer. His actions in this case were like his past behavior. He was not suitable for probation, and the comment is that when he is made accountable for his act, he is unable to accept the consequences of his behavior. There was a recommendation that probation be denied and in fact that’s what the judge did.
Notes from Probation Report, Case 269420, Deputy Probation Officer Tandy:
At this point, Mazor was living at 678 Jackman Street., San Fernando, California. His wife and children were then being sponsored by the San Fernando Kiwanis Club as a club project. That meant that they were supporting his family and he was not.
Probation Officer Tandy indicated that defendant Mazor admitted that the three checks for which he pled guilty writing NSF were written following the offense for which he was sentenced on February 1, 1963. Putting a recap on this whole thing, February 1, 1963 he wrote some bad checks, got his two months in jail, three years probation. The next step was that in 1963 he wrote a series of bad checks for what she was given a State Court sentence and he came out June 18, 1964 on parole. The offense for which he was put back in jail in 1965 was the result of a bogus check which he deposited on December 23, 1964.
In the 1965 records someplace there is a notation to the fact that he had something like $2000 bad checks outstanding at that point.
However, this current one we are dealing with is the 1963 case, when he admitted the 3 checks were done.