Postmus charged with 7 felonies

SAN BERNARDINO • Embattled former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus was formally charged with seven felonies Tuesday as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe.

Postmus and his attorney, Stephen Levine, were in court for a scheduled arraignment for his drug possession offenses and both men were surprised by the announcement of the nine additional charges.

The District Attorney filed the following:

• Four counts of embezzlement by a public officer
• Two counts of grand theft
• One count of perjury

Postmus is also facing three counts of possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.

Former Postmus aide, Gregory Scott Eyler, was also charged with grand theft and embezzlement by a public officer, documents showed.

Eyler was not in the courtroom and an warrant has been issued for his arrest, according to officials.

Judge Michael Dest granted Levine’s request for a continuance until Thursday. Levine cited the short notice as reason for requesting the extra time. Levine also stated Postmus has “been an upstanding member of the community for a long time,” also mentioning Postmus has no prior criminal record.

Dest noted Postmus’ bail of $350,000.

Levine and Postmus declined to comment on the charges levied against the former assessor and county supervisor.

“I have 500 pages of discovery. I have no idea what’s in here,” Levine said.

As part of a year-long investigation by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office, officials arrested Postmus on Jan. 15 after they said they found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in his Rancho Cucamonga townhouse. The contraband was discovered on a day when the district attorney served 10 search warrants at Postmus’ office, home and other locations, reportedly in connection with a corruption investigation.

In January Greg Eyler’s position as taxpayer advocate for the assessor, was eliminated by the county Board of Supervisors, officials said.