Harold Flammia, convicted of using his position as San Antonio police union chief to steer taxpayer and union funds to favored lawyers, is serving the last five months of his four-year sentence in a halfway house. He is still perceived as having influence through his wife, deputy police chief Rosemary Flammia.
After becoming president of the San Antonio Police Officers Assn. in 1988, Flammia negotiated a contract that funneled union dues and city taxes to a legal fund for police officers. In exchange for $500,000 in kickbacks from one of the legal aid attorneys, Flammia ensured that the attorney kept the legal aid contract. Flammia pled guilty to fraud and money laundering in May 1998. He was sentenced to four years, seven months in federal prison and ordered to pay full restitution in Feb. 1999. [San Antonio Express-News 4/10/03]