'Lies, Secrecy, Intimidation': Tracking the Mounting Crisis Engulfing San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus

Embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus and her inner circle have come under intense fire in recent weeks amid mounting accusations that she and her executive director — and alleged lover — have consistently abused their power since taking office less than two years ago.

Earlier this week, the department’s five remaining captains called on her and Undersheriff Dan Perea — the only remaining member of her executive team — to resign.

“The two are literally left standing alone in the sheriff’s department,” County Supervisor Ray Mueller said at a press conference on Thursday. “The sheriff has lost the faith and trust of her team.”

In a whirlwind two weeks, Corpus’ office arrested the president of the deputies’ union and promoted Executive Director Victor Aenlle to a sworn position that officials say he’s not legally allowed to fill. County supervisors, meanwhile, are now pursuing a charter amendment to remove Corpus from office.

To make sense of it all, KQED has stitched together a timeline to illustrate how Corpus went from a trailblazing candidate who promised transparency and accountability to a sheriff accused of dubious behavior and blatant nepotism, running a department plagued with “lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority,” according to a recent independent investigation.

That 408-page “independent fact-finding investigation” — on which this timeline is largely based — was commissioned by county officials in July following an “unprecedented” number of complaints about Aenlle. Conducted by retired Superior Court Judge LaDoris H. Cordell and released earlier this month, the sprawling report details a litany of transgressions, starting from when Corpus was a candidate for sheriff to as recently as this fall.

2021–2022: Early warning signs

Corpus started her law enforcement career as a caseworker for the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office and later as a corrections officer. She became a deputy sheriff in 2005, rising to the rank of captain and serving Millbrae’s chief of police until becoming sheriff in January 2023.

Corpus announced she was running for sheriff in July 2021, challenging her boss, then-Sheriff Carlos Bolanos. She was the first female and first Latina candidate to seek the position in county history. Running on the promise of bringing a “culture change” to the office, she ousted Bolanos, winning 55% of the vote in the primaries in June 2022 and became one of the first Latina sheriffs in California.

But during her campaign, several sheriff’s office employees said they started noticing signs that Corpus had a more-than-friendly relationship with Aenlle, her campaign manager, a real estate agent and once reserve deputy with the department.

Employees would later tell Cordell that they’d see the sheriff and Aenlle massaging each other at the Millbrae station, “pecking” each other on the lips and texting each other inappropriate messages.

Corpus allegedly described Aenlle to one employee as “jealous and protective,” but “If he ever leaves me, I don’t know how I’ll make it. I won’t survive.”

Still, Corpus and Aenlle regularly denied their extramarital relationship existed.

Some employees also later reported witnessing disturbing behavior, including an instance in early 2022, when Corpus, then a captain, allegedly used the N-word twice to describe Bolanos in front of a civilian employee, and, in separate incidents, used “a homophobic slur” to refer to a local elected official.

“I believe a sheriff who makes homophobic slurs like that is not fit for office, period,” Mueller said Thursday.

Shortly after her victory, Corpus made an “unprecedented” request for a transition team, which included Aenlle. At one of their first meetings, Aenlle required team members to use the encrypted messaging system Signal and sign nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), warning that if anyone leaked information, “We’ll come after you; you’ll get sued,” according to the report.

In October 2022, soon after a former sheriff’s department employee spotted Corpus and Aenlle at SFO boarding a flight together to Maui, County Executive Officer Mike Callagy confronted her about the trip. Corpus said she and Aenlle were “good friends” and that he came to help with her kids. “It’s the good ole’ boys spreading rumors about me because I’m Latina,” she allegedly told Callagy.

Callagy disagreed, saying if he knew they were friends, he wouldn’t have approved Aenlle’s contract, so he terminated it.

Corpus and Aenlle

Shortly after Corpus was sworn in as sheriff, Aenlle signed a $92-an-hour one-year contract with her office. Three months later, Corpus assigned him an “extra help” position, paying him an additional $73 per hour.

Corpus then created the position of executive director of administration with an annual salary of almost $247,000. The job wasn’t publicly advertised, and no one but Aenlle applied. Corpus hired him in July 2023. She later went on to request pay raises for him on three occasions, all of which the county rejected.

September 2023: The county signed a $44,000-a-month, 10-year lease for a building in Redwood City to use as a new substation and child care facility. Aenlle — an associate broker for Coldwell Banker — was heavily involved in the negotiations, something Cordell found could be a conflict of interest because Coldwell Banker brokered the deal. (Callagy froze the project earlier this month, saying Corpus’ office didn’t follow protocol, resulting in $750,000 on a building that’s still empty.)

Many people objected to Aenlle’s position in the department, including sworn employees who Corpus brought into her office, like then-Undersheriff Chris Hsiung, who said Aenlle “treats people like shit and makes them feel like garbage.” Hsiung resigned from the department in June 2024.

Aenlle also showed particular hostility toward the Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA), even encouraging members to vote out their board.

One lawsuit filed against Corpus and Aenlle earlier this year by David Wozniak — a former president of the deputies’ union — alleging his work with the DSA was a “problem” and a “headache” for the sheriff’s office, and he was demoted shortly after Corpus was sworn in.

A ‘poor representation of your office’

In September, Corpus designated two people to be photographed with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event in Woodside. Aenlle “made a scene” while demanding he get one of the photos with Trump.

An FBI agent in San Francisco described Aenlle’s behavior to then-Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan as “one of the most arrogant pricks I’ve ever seen” and a “poor representation of your office,” according to Cordell’s report.

After learning that Monaghan spoke with Cordell for her investigation, Corpus fired him, saying she no longer trusted him, according to Cordell’s report. He, too, was brought into the office under Corpus.

“Monaghan believes that Sheriff Corpus fired him in retaliation for cooperating with the investigation and for standing up to Aenlle,” Cordell wrote, a sentiment echoed by Supervisor Ray Mueller.

A 2-week storm in November

On Nov. 12, DSA President Carlos Tapia turned himself in to the sheriff’s office related to alleged time-card theft. He accused Corpus of targeting him for being a vocal critic of her office.

Capt. Brian Philip — another Corpus hire — was told to arrest Tapia but resigned instead.

At a press conference hours after Tapia’s arrest, Supervisor Noelia Corzo said it was “highly irregular” for the sheriff’s office to investigate and arrest a member of their own department.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told KQED that his office is reviewing the case “to determine whether criminal charges for time card fraud are warranted” and has requested additional investigation by the Sheriff’s Office. He plans to make a charging decision before Tapia’s arraignment on Dec. 9.

The following day, the Board of Supervisors unanimously cast a vote of no confidence in the sheriff and terminated Aenlle’s executive director position. Corpus appeared briefly at the meeting.

“What has happened the last few days is disgusting. I will not allow the board to threaten me and attempt to fire my chief of staff without cause,” she said, announcing she was appointing Aenlle to be an assistant sheriff “effective immediately.”

That Thursday, Acting Assistant Sheriff Matthew Fox, who Corpus brought into her office, resigned.

Undersheriff Dan Perea sent Corpus a memo saying that Aenlle asked him to change the code on the safe that held the executive team’s suppressed rifles, but Perea allegedly said “no” and told Aenlle not to contact him again.

On Monday, several federal and state representatives from the region called on Corpus to resign, including U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin and State Sen. Josh Becker, who originally endorsed her for sheriff.

The following day, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the first steps in creating a charter amendment that would give them the authority to remove a sheriff from office with a 4/5ths vote. If passed at a second reading on Dec. 5, voters could approve the charter amendment in a special election in March.

On Thursday, Captains Eamonn Allen and Mark Myers announced that the five remaining captains on Corpus’ staff had unanimously approved a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Corpus, Perea and Aenlle and demanded they resign immediately.