In summary
Atilla Colar in 2023 was convicted on 44 felony charges related to an alleged COVID benefit fraud scheme at a Bay Area parolee rehabilitation program.
Three years ago a federal jury threw the book at a man who allegedly carried out a $1 million COVID fraud scheme while running a rehab home for parolees under a state program.
He was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Attila Colar’s conviction fell apart this week when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found the judge in the case allowed a juror with a disqualifying bias to participate in the trial.
CalMatters exposed Colar’s Bay Area operation, called All Hands on Deck, in a 2023 investigation into parolee rehabilitation programs. The investigation showed California had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the programs, but couldn’t say whether they helped anyone find a job or stay away from crime.
Colar was convicted on 44 felony counts of defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program and attempting to obstruct a federal investigation.
Colar, who is Black and Muslim, represented himself during parts of his trial. He asked jurors if they believed “law enforcement has a history of persecuting Black religious organizations,” according to the 9th Circuit. Colar also made statements to prospective jurors suggesting he believed he was unfairly targeted by law enforcement.
One juror reacted negatively to those statements, saying when Colar spoke, “all that came out was discrimination, conspiracy theories, and police corruption.” The juror told the judge he could be impartial and had his own personal experiences with discrimination, but expressed strong skepticism to Colar’s claims of police bias and corruption.
Colar contested the juror’s participation, but the judge allowed him to stay. Three weeks later, the jury handed up its guilty verdict.
The 9th Circuit found the juror who reacted to Colar’s discrimination claim should have been removed. The appeals court noted the man’s views “were rooted in his personal experience and emotion, and he told the court in plain terms that he would not be able to set them aside.”
The 9th Circuit order allows for prosecutors to put Colar on trial again. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern California has not yet responded to a request for comment about the decision.
