A fire chief in San Joaquin County has pleaded no contest to embezzlement, according to the sheriff’s office.  

San Joaquin County Sheriff’s detectives began investigating Frank Ramirez III in February 2023, when he was fire chief of the Mokelumne Rural Fire District in Lockeford. Investigators had received a report alleging Ramirez was embezzling property during his tenure as fire chief.  

A search warrant of Ramirez’ residence allegedly yielded fire department property, “including a large dump trailer that he had misappropriated,” the sheriff’s office said Wednesday. He was arrested and taken to jail.  

On Tuesday, Ramirez pleaded no contest to two felony counts of embezzlement by public officers, the sheriff’s office said.  

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.