The Region - News from Aug. 30, 1985

A veteran state Department of Transportation lawyer who was granted a leave of absence “for personal reasons” to serve a federal prison term for drug trafficking was fired by Caltrans Director Leo Trombatore. The action occurred shortly after attorney Douglas W. Brown, 41, who is serving a one-year sentence at the Metropolitan Corrections Center in San Diego, told department officials he intended to resign. “I want no question to linger as to whether I will allow this kind of situation to occur again at Caltrans,” Trombatore said of the firing. “The integrity of Caltrans is of supreme importance and I want to safeguard it.” Disclosure this week that Brown, a 17-year employee, had requested and received eight months of unpaid leave embarrassed the Deukmejian Administration, which prides itself on its tough-on-crime image. Caltrans officials blamed the decision to grant the leave on a mid-level bureaucrat.