Stanley Ellicott, a former employee of San Francisco, admitted guilt on Thursday for embezzling over $600,000 in city funds and taking part in a fraud scheme involving another former employee, as reported by various local news organizations.
Ellicott, who previously held the position of deputy director in the finance and technical division of the city’s Department of Human Resources (DHR), was the first to be charged in this case. In January, he was indicted for allegedly misusing grants from the city’s Community Challenge Grant Program. By March, he had been arrested and faced 62 felony charges for misappropriating about $627,000 directly from his department.
Initially, charges in January accused Ellicott of facilitating Lanita Enriquez, a former director of Community Challenge Grants, in using public funds for personal gain. Enriquez is alleged to have funneled city money through contracts that benefited her ex-girlfriend, Rudolph Dwayne Jones, who worked for former California Governor Gavin Newsom. Interestingly, Newsom’s ex-chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was arrested in November on charges related to bank and wire fraud.
During this time, it’s claimed that Jones paid Ellicott kickbacks, which Ellicott then forwarded to Enriquez. Although there was a felony charge against Ellicott for receiving stolen property, no substantial evidence linked him to any criminal activities in his DHR role initially.
Enriquez is believed to have entered into contracts worth over $1.4 million with entities controlled by Jones, while Ellicott was employed by the city. Supposedly, Jones’ company, RDJ Enterprises, paid Ellicott almost $270,000, with some of this money allegedly funneled back to Enriquez via platforms like Venmo and PayPal.
Both Enriquez and Jones faced 59 charges in August 2023, linked to misappropriation of government funds, bribery, and various conflicts of interest. In a March indictment, Ellicott was accused of stealing $627,118.86 between May 2019 and January 2024, facing charges that included grand theft and multiple counts of money laundering.
At the time of these crimes, Ellicott was tasked with monitoring the financial health of the Workers’ Compensation Division. He allegedly collaborated to create a fake Illinois-based company called IAG Services, which allowed him to file numerous fraudulent workers’ compensation claims for services that were never delivered.
After Ellicott’s guilty plea, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins remarked to the Chronicle that the case illustrates a steadfast commitment to fighting public corruption. Jenkins emphasized that residents deserve integrity from city employees and that this case demonstrates the ongoing effort to eliminate misconduct in public service.
Following his guilty plea, Ellicott received a sentence of three years in state prison and is set to return for sentencing on January 2, 2026, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
