Former Sgt. Walter McWilson Pleads Guilty to Receiving Stolen Property

A once-lauded Oceanside police sergeant will do jail time after pleading guilty Wednesday to three counts of receiving stolen property.

Before striking a plea bargain with prosecutors, Walter McWilson, 37, a 10-year Oceanside police veteran, had been facing 14 felony charges, including grand theft and conspiracy for allegedly asking his office manager girlfriend to use her construction company's credit cards to buy gift cards, electronics and home improvement materials.

Prosecutor Anna Winn, who handled the case, said police officers are "heroes" and "protectors," so McWilson's fall was painful to many.

"Anytime a police officer commits a crime, it betrays all police officers and it betrays the public trust," Winn said.

McWilson is scheduled to be sentenced June 15 to 365 days in county jail, Winn said. But if he repays Oceanside-based Royal Pacific Construction $22,000 by that date, he will get a sentence of between 180 and 270 days.

Under state guidelines, McWilson will probably be required to serve half of any sentence he receives.

McWilson has three children and lives in Murrieta with a son and his elderly mother.

His now ex-girlfriend Aimee Rich, 34, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement and is expected to be sentenced April 22 to between 120 and 365 days in jail, Winn said.

Before he was placed on leave in August, McWilson gained the praise of department leaders as the supervisor of the Neighborhood Policing Team and for his work on the Crisis Negotiations Team and the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team.

With an earnest but friendly demeanor and what department leaders said was a sincere concern for the community, one Oceanside police captain called McWilson a "rising star."

Detectives from his own department discovered McWilson's crimes by accident as they investigated Rich, police said.

She refused to tell investigators whether her embezzlement had benefited any friends, but a receipt for a mattress seized from her Murrieta apartment had McWilson's name on it, police said.

Oceanside police Chief Frank McCoy on Wednesday said McWilson's arrest and guilty plea showed the department's commitment to justice.

"A clear message was sent that regardless of if someone is a police officer or whatever their profession is, our department will conduct a thorough and fair investigation," McCoy said.

Oceanside's probe showed that Rich had used company checks and lines of credit to embezzle about $160,000 between 2004 and 2008, court records show.

Winn said McWilson admitted that Rich used her company's credit to buy him about $22,000 worth of goods, including four TVs, one of which he sold to a neighbor, an Apple notebook computer, a high-end mattress, Thomasville mahogany flooring and $4,000 in Home Depot gift cards.

As a convicted felon, McWilson will never be able to work in law enforcement again, Winn said.

But it is not McWilson's first time on the wrong side of the law. In 1993 he was convicted of evading a police officer, Winn said, but had the charge expunged after establishing a record of good behavior.