SLO County executive sentenced for embezzling over $480K from small business
A former executive of a small business in Atascadero was sentenced Monday for stealing more than $480,000 from the company over four and a half years.
Paso Robles resident Robert Conrad Vasquez, 38, was convicted of embezzling the money from Scott O’Brien Fire and Safety while acting as the company’s chief financial officer between 2019 and 2023.
Vasquez “used his position of trust at the victim company to pilfer company funds for often exorbitant expenditures,” including fine dining and vacations, as well as his rent and credit card payments, according to the district attorney’s sentencing report.
In court on Monday, O’Brien said the full amount stolen was still under investigation, but estimated it was between $400,000 and $600,000. But the DA’s Office placed the figure at close to $485,000.
“This was not a mistake,” O’Brien said. “This was not negligence. This was a sustained and calculated abuse of trust by someone in complete financial control of my business.”
Vasquez originally pleaded not guilty in December 2024, before changing his plea to no contest in February and accepting a felony conviction. A no contest plea operates the same as a guilty plea without admitting fault.
He was originally charged with 15 counts of grand theft over $950 — 10 of which were later dismissed — with a sentencing enhancement for the amount taken being more than $100,000 found to be true in February.
The enhancement adds up to five years of consecutive state prison time to the underlying sentence. As a part of his plea, the DA’s Office agreed to seek a maximum sentence of six years.
He was also found guilty of illegal possession of an assault weapon — a Smith and Wesson AR-15 pattern rifle. Five counts of felony tax evasion he originally faced were dropped.
After hearing victim impact statements from O’Brien and his son, Cris Webb O’Brien, Judge Michael Frye sentenced Vasquez to four years and four months in jail.
Frye said he recognized Vasquez has no criminal history but noted that his crimes were “spread out over years” and that the stolen money was “used for extravagance.”
Adrienne Haddad, Vasquez’s defense attorney, asked if Vasquez — a husband and father of two young children — could go home and tell his family before being remanded into custody to serve his sentence, but Frye denied her request. Vasquez was handcuffed and taken into custody at the end of the hearing.
Multiple friends and family members of Vasquez’s were in the courtroom Monday, including his mother, Tricia.
“He’s my son,” she told The Tribune after the hearing. “I love him. I support him. I know what’s really going on here.”
Frye also waived a $9,000 felony restitution fine, a fee usually paid to the court, to allow the total amount embezzled to be repaid to the business. At one point during the hearing, considering the loss of clients and other damages, O’Brien said he would put the figure around $2 million.
The final restitution amount will be decided by the court at a later date. Vasquez is due back in court for a restitution status determination hearing on June 24.
“Today’s sentence in the Robert Conrad Vasquez case sends a clear message: When a trusted employee steals from a local small business, it is not just a crime on the books, it is a profound betrayal that threatens the jobs and stability that business provides to our community,” District Attorney Dan Dow said in a news release Tuesday. “Embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Scott O’Brien Fire and Safety didn’t just hurt one owner — it undermined a small business that protects lives and employs local families.”
“In our criminal and victim justice system, we will continue to stand with small business owners, hold white-collar offenders accountable and fight to ensure that those who abuse positions of trust face serious consequences,” Dow said.
SLO County executive embezzled hundreds of thousands
Vasquez was hired as chief financial officer of Scott O’Brien Fire and Safety in December 2018 and given full access to the company’s finances, the business owner said in court during his victim impact statement Monday.
O’Brien said he considered Vasquez to be his “best friend,” but Vasquez’s family denied they were that close.
“I trusted him completely to run my business,” O’Brien said. “... What I did not know was that from the very beginning, Robert was abusing that trust.”
According to the DA’s Office sentencing report, Vasquez began embezzling from the company’s bank accounts “almost immediately.”
Starting in February 2019 until September 2023, Vasquez paid the monthly rent on his home, totaling $105,100, and made over 400 payments toward three of his personal credit cards totaling $336,201, directly from the company’s bank account, the sentencing report said.
During the same time frame, he only paid $388 on his credit cards from his own account, the report said. He also tried — but failed — to get his credit limits increased multiple times “in an apparent attempt to spend even more of the company’s money,” according to the report.
In addition to everyday expenses like groceries, Vasquez’s credit card statements revealed he was “living a lavish lifestyle using company funds,” the report said.
According to the report, Vasquez had spent tens of thousands of dollars on fine dining, video games, golfing and trips to Las Vegas, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and SeaWorld.
He also spent more than $20,000 at several different gun and sporting goods stores, “apparently using company funds to purchase multiple firearms,” including two handguns and the AR-15 rifle, the DA’s Office report said.
During his statement, O’Brien further alleged that while Vasquez was CFO, he did not pay the company’s payroll or sales taxes, file the required tax returns, pay vendors, maintain insurance obligations or stay in compliance with regulatory agencies.
O’Brien alleged this caused the company to lose a key license to perform fire suppression work, which generated two-thirds of its revenue. He said unpaid payroll, taxes, penalties and interest have reached well over $800,000 based on their calculations thus far.
“While taking money from the business, Robert failed to perform the most basic responsibilities of his role,” O’Brien said.
Haddad later pointed out that the victim impact statements, while “powerful,” were not made under oath and any statements not proven by the prosecution or admitted to the court — such as O’Brien’s allegations that Vasquez skirted his other responsibilities as CFO or incurred other costs for the business — cannot be considered fact.
Still, O’Brien asked the court to consider all alleged impacts when sentencing Vasquez, and requested he serve the maximum time.
“The impact of all this has gone far beyond financial loss,” O’Brien said. “My employees have lived under constant stress and uncertainty, not knowing whether the company would remain financially stable or whether their jobs would be secure. The strain on the business has been felt at every level.”
O’Brien said the damage to the business will outlive his tenure as CEO and be passed onto his son when he takes over. The company has been forced to hire forensic accountants and bookkeepers to “clean up the mess that was made,” incurring further debt, O’Brien said. He said the possibility of restructuring the business through bankruptcy is also a possibility.
“He did this over a course of four and a half years, knowingly, and you know, he didn’t care,” O’Brien said to close his statement. “He just continued to steal and steal and steal, stabbing me in the back, saying he was my best friend the whole time.”
Since leaving Scott O’Brien Fire and Safety on his own volition before October 2023, Vasquez has continued working in the fire industry for Code Red Fire Inc., Haddad said.
Six people wrote character reference letters to the court on behalf of Vasquez, including Chris Rottigni, who said he was Vasquez’s best friend of over 15 years. He described Vasquez as a “devoted father,” “loving husband” and a ”hardworking and dependable employee.”
“He is also a caretaker by nature — always willing to help others, whether it is family, friends, or those in need,” Rottigni said. “His sense of responsibility and compassion are qualities that truly define who he is.”
Other letters from friends, employers and colleagues vouched for his commitment as a father, volunteer softball coach and a California Association of Life Safety and Fire Equipment board member.
“Watching and observing for more than decade, I have seen Mr. Vasquez approach life and business with sincerity and honesty,” Paul Cogburn, a professional colleague of Vasquez’s in the fire industry, wrote in his letter. “I know that when Mr. Vasquez gives his word, he keeps it, an inherent testament to his integrity.”
Justin Orton, president of the Nitro Renegades nonprofit softball team Vasquez coaches, said he is “the type of person that everyone would be lucky enough to have in their lives in some capacity.”
Vasquez ultimately got nearly four and a half years out of the maximum six years sentence for his crimes.
“I don’t think Mr. Vasquez is quite the owner that he was painted,” Haddad said.
This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 1:27 PM.
