The next step in the trial of former San Mateo County Community College District Chancellor Ron Galatolo is for both parties to meet back at the San Mateo County Superior Court to settle on a date for his sentence to be given out, which will take place Friday, March 6, said District Attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe.
Galatolo, who was found guilty on four counts of perjury and four counts of tax fraud on Tuesday, Jan. 20, could serve up to seven years and four months in jail, however, this all depends on the pre-sentence report and the judge’s discretion, Wagstaffe said.
The pre-sentence report is a report prepared by the San Mateo County probation department, which contains information such as Galatolo’s background, work history, his statement about his convictions, and any statements that the district would like to make since they were the ones affected by his actions.
Wagstaffe said that this report is highly important for the judge as it gives him all the necessary information to make his decision and it’s also important to Wagstaffe’s prosecutor to guide him on how many years he would like the judge to sentence Galatolo.
The date was set back farther than usual because it gives Wagstaffe and his prosecutors time to decide whether they want to retry Galatolo on one or all of the 18 other charges the jury was hung on. His team will do a cost-benefit analysis and from there will make their decision. If they do decide to move through with the retrial, it will only be for the charges they feel confident of landing a conviction.
“That’s the decision we’ll be making in the coming weeks,” Wagstaffe said.
Wagstaffe said he would have liked to have gotten convictions on the more serious conflict of interest charges, but was still overall satisfied with the outcome.
“We were very pleased to get the eight convictions that we did for tax fraud and perjury,” Wagstaffe said. “There were some important charges in there we were hoping to have him found guilty on…but we are pleased the jury did find him guilty of eight felony counts.”
Wagstaffe said after the meeting on March 6, the sentence could be given out up to 60 days later, which means the sentencing may happen in May or later.
Ally Hanover • Jan 30, 2026 at 9:29 pm
The guy played you all for years.then got almost another million his last 2 years working from home HaHa. I seen it new Harley’s , Porsche and to top it off he inducted himself in the Bulldog athletic hall of fame.