Three Defendants Sentenced in Bribery Scheme

RIVERSIDE – Three defendants have been sentenced in a public integrity case in which law enforcement officers accepted bribes from the owner of a local tow company.

The defendants were convicted by a Riverside County jury in June 2024 of bribery and conspiracy. After their convictions, the defendants filed motions for new trial and requested numerous continuances of their sentencing date, over the District Attorney’s objection. The motions for a new trial were denied and sentencing occurred on June 17, 2025, before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jerry Yang.

Samuel Flores, DOB: 4-9-72, a former lieutenant with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO), was sentenced to two years of formal probation and 270 days in the county jail. Robert Christolon, DOB: 10-9-65, a former sergeant with the Sheriff’s Office, was sentenced to two years of formal probation and 180 days to be served in the sheriff’s work release program. Cody Close, DOB 9-5-91, the former owner of DJ’s Towing in Temecula, was sentenced to two years of formal probation and 120 days in county jail.

Flores and Close were remanded into custody of the Riverside County Sheriff to begin serving their sentences immediately.

In 2018 and 2019, Flores and Christolon, who were then in charge of the Traffic Bureau at the Sheriff’s Southwest Station in Temecula, conspired to direct business to DJ’s Towing, owned by Close, in exchange for bribes, including a stay at an oceanfront beach house, tickets to the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival, a 1979 Corvette, a 1968 International pickup truck, and a Honda Civic.

Over the course of the scheme, Flores and Close exchanged hundreds of text messages, in which they discussed Close’s business prospects with RSO, with then-Lieutenant Flores telling Close to “make that money, homie.”

The bribery scheme also involved a patrol deputy known for being close friends with defendant Close and for devoting much of his time on duty to towing parked cars for having expired registration. That deputy, Kevin Carpenter, DOB 4-28-82, pled guilty before trial and testified against his co-defendants. He was sentenced in October 2024 to two years of probation and 180 days to be served in the Sheriff’s work-release program.

The case, RIF2010090, was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys Natasha Sorace of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit and David Allen of the District Attorney’s Appellate Unit.