The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office arrested one of its own last week when detectives collared 34-year-old Segun Ogunleye, a custody sergeant at the county jail. Ogunleye ― who served in a supervisory role, reviewing and approving custody deputies’ overtime ― is accused of fraudulently logging more than $175,000 in earnings for shifts he did not work.
The District Attorney’s Office has officially charged him with 114 criminal counts, including misappropriation of public funds, grand theft, false entries in records, and money laundering. The alleged conduct dated back to 2023. Ogunleye, out on bail and on administrative leave, appeared in court on Monday, but his arraignment was rescheduled for March 2.
“This arrest is deeply troubling and disappointing,” said Sheriff Bill Brown. “As a supervisor, this individual was entrusted with ensuring accountability and overseeing the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Conduct like this not only violates the law; it undermines the integrity of our organization and will not be tolerated.”
Ogunleye’s arrest comes as the Sheriff’s Office faces intense scrutiny from the Board of Supervisors for its ballooning overtime costs, which last year exceeded $21 million. In 2018, it was $11.1 million. A recent audit revealed that the top overtime earner in the department made $170,000 in overtime last year, on top of his $103,000 base salary.
The audit found that nearly 25 percent of all workdays triggered overtime billing. Twenty-four managers — exempt from overtime — reportedly racked up $715,000 in “Extra Help” job assignments. Twenty-nine employees took home more than $1,000 per pay period in overtime.
“A recurring pattern was identified in which sheriff employees used leave balances (vacation, sick, or other leave) to complete ‘time worked’ hours requirements … while simultaneously coding overtime hours in the same period,” the report stated.
At a Board of Supervisors meeting last month, before Ogunleye’s arrest, Undersheriff Craig Bonner said part of the overtime problem was custody deputies not filling out time cards correctly. He said the Sheriff’s Office planned to fix that issue and pay back the revenue to the county’s general fund.
At the same meeting, 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino vented his frustration at Brown and the department for consistently exceeding its overtime budget. “This thing has kind of dominated our budget for the last 15 years,” he said. “I think it deserves its own hearing.”
Sheriff’s detectives did not identify any additional suspects connected to Ogunleye’s case, the department said, nor any evidence of similar fraudulent activity by any other employees. The investigation remains ongoing and a parallel administrative inquiry is underway.
