Ex-Schools Chief Sentenced to 60 Days Behind Bars

Jeffrey Hubbard, who was recently fired as superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, was sentenced Thursday to jail, probation and fines for misappropriating funds while he ran the Beverly Hills school district.

Hubbard, 55, was ordered to spend 60 days in jail, receive three years of  probation and pay a $6,000 fine. In addition he was ordered to pay $23,500 in restitution to the Beverly Hills Unified school district and to complete 280 hours of community service.

The judge ordered Hubbard to be taken into custody immediately after imposing the sentence, while noting earlier that he would not be shocked if the former superintendent was quickly released from jail. After being asked if he wanted to give something to his wife before he was taken into custody, Hubbard responded that he wanted to give her "lots of love.''

Last month, an L.A. County Superior Court jury found Hubbard to a female employee -- -- while he was superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District. The jury acquitted him of a charge involving another employee. He faced up to five years in state prison, but Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman asked the judge to impose a county jail term rather than state prison. In court papers, he cited the "amount of loss'' and Hubbard's lack of prior criminal record. 

"I do believe what he did was grossly inappropriate,'' the prosecutor told the judge.

Defense attorney Salvatore P. Ciulla maintained that his client had "no financial gain'' as a result of the money that was given to the Karen Anne Christiansen urging the judge to consider the "gigantic'' consequences his client has faced as a result of his conviction saying "it has ruined him financially."

The defense intends to appeal.

"I don't think the jury got it right,'' Ciulla told reporters outside
court.   

The charges began in December 2010. Prosecutors said Hubbard OK'd a $20,000 stipend and $500 monthly car allowance to  Christiansen, a former facilities director for Beverly Hills Unified. Hubbard took five months of voluntary paid leave to prepare for his defense and at N-MUSD in June.

Christiansen, who was tried separately last year, was convicted of four counts of conflict of interest for negotiating contracts between the school district and a firm with which her company had a consulting agreement, and for backing a school bond measure that benefited her firm.   

She was sentenced Jan. 5 to four years and four months in state prison, but was allowed to remain free on $400,000 bail while her appeal is pending.

Two days after his conviction, Hubbard was fired from the N-MUSD.

-City News Service contributed to this report.