SAN DIEGO, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A legal claim says a former San Diego District Attorney's Office fraud prosecutor allegedly pursued romantic relationships with women after he prosecuted them.
The claim by Tamara McAnally, 41, of Vista, Calif., who pleaded guilty along with her husband to felony fraud charges in 2004, alleges prosecutor Ernie Marugg Jr. used his position as a deputy district attorney to pursue relationships with female defendants for nearly a decade, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.
One of those women, Kim Alvarez, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor fraud charge in 2003, later began dating Marugg and married him in 2010, the newspaper reported
They filed for divorce this year, and Alvarez said in her divorce declaration Marugg told her he had long-term affairs with several defendants.
McAnally's claim names the county, District Attorney's Office, Marugg and his supervisors, arguing Marugg's romantic interest may have hindered his impartiality during the fraud case against her.
Earlier this year a judge wiped out McAnally's fraud conviction and granted her a finding that she was factually innocent.
Marugg, 70, retired last year from the District Attorney's Office amid an internal investigation into his conduct with female defendants, the Union-Tribune reported.
