Trial for former chancellor now heading to jury

After returning to the Redwood City courtroom Tuesday morning, Galatolo’s attorney Charles Smith finished his closing remarks by calling into question the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses and arguing vehemently that the former chancellor did not break any laws. 

“His integrity, principle, compassion, strength in leadership, contributions to colleagues, their professionals and their college community — that is who Ron Galatolo is,” Smith said. 

Though prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney Joe Cannon argued the success and follow-through on capital improvement projects — including those that contracts are under scrutiny in this trial — was irrelevant, Smith argued nothing matters more. 

“That literally shows his unqualified devotion to that district,” Smith said. 

Galatolo is accused of accepting luxury gifts like tickets to the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals, tickets for his daughter to see Kanye West in concert and first-class plane tickets to Dubai from the same contracting principals whose firms he had allegedly prioritized for building contracts. 

Nine of the 27 charges are for allegedly failing to disclose the gifts, many of which were bestowed upon him by the construction company Allana Buick & Bers and its CEO, Karim Allana — who obtained six contracts worth $7 million total with the district from 2014 to 2019. 

Trying to convince the jury that Galatolo is guilty of the crimes he allegedly committed, Cannon asked jurors to “not leave your common sense at the door.” 

Galatolo took advantage of the systems with which he became familiar, and would even encourage others to cut corners where they could, stating that “nobody is watching,” Cannon said.

Allegations of fraud outside of the community college district realm include tax evasion by failing to claim the rental income from a Maui property, and through underreported purchase declarations of sports cars. 

“Sometimes people take advantage just because they can,” Cannon said. 

Galatolo facilitated a “kingly lifestyle” by the relationships he maintained with the various contractors the district worked with, and continuously tested how far he could go without getting caught, Cannon argued. 

“This evidence that you see repeating itself over and over, it has been made extremely clear, the defendant will take advantage of the system, whatever system applies, whenever he gets a chance,” Cannon said. “He doesn’t have to have some huge nefarious motive, other than the fact that he can get away with it.” 

The jury is now left to deliberate.