Richard Leonard has steadfastly refused to join the state's long surrender march on consumer protection, and because of his rebellion, there's one less shady operator preying on Californians and his own mother.

Leonard, you see, is the only Bureau of Automotive Repair inspector left in San Luis Obispo County. His beat also includes northern Santa Barbara County. The office he has to report to once a week is way over in Bakersfield. When his always bulging case load starts to burst, someone way over in Bakersfield travels way over to San Luis Obispo County to briefly help out.

However lonely Leonard may be, he is no Maytag repairman sitting by waiting for the phone to ring. His constant juggling of cases leaves no time for idleness, and Brian Rasori can attest to that. In fact, Rasori will have two years in state prison to reflect on a lot of things.

Leonard's investigation of Rasori, owner of R&B Auto Body in Grover Beach, began with a simple consumer complaint filed against R&B for poor workmanship. As is the normal course of action, Leonard conducted an invoice review, called five other customers, inspected their vehicles, and found probable cause to initiate an investigation.

When it was over, Rasori plead no contest to six felonies: two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, two counts of auto body insurance fraud, one count of forgery, and -- thanks to a little extra burning of Leonard's shoe leather -- one count of illegal hazardous waste disposal. He was also ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution.

As the state continues to decimate the ranks of inspectors like Leonard, it's highly instructive -- however ironical it might be -- that one of the credit card convictions Leonard nailed Rasori on was for bilking the state's own Department of Parks and Recreation out of more than $10,000 after he charged it for a collision repair job. The way in which Leonard did this speaks volumes about the importance of having dedicated public servants like him around.

Evidence that Leonard obtained from First National Bank in Omaha, Nebraska, clearly showed several electronic transfers of funds to Rasori's bank account in California for the exact amounts he fraudulently charged on the state's credit card. "Obtaining this evidence was challenging, because Nebraska state law prohibited First National from releasing banking records subject to a California search warrant," said Leonard.

But this 20-year BAR bloodhound would not be thrown off the scent. Leonard called the Nebraska State Patrol for assistance, and it obtained the bank records for him using a Nebraska warrant and basing it on probable cause from Leonard's affidavit from the California warrant.

"I am grateful to Richard Leonard for all of his hard work on these cases," said San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Mja Thiesmeyer, who negotiated Rasori's plea. "His ability to marshal these complex intertwining facts really made the process much easier and helped us arrive at a just result."

The other case referred to by Thiesmeyer was the one conducted by the Environmental Health Department, which resulted from the BAR case. BAR headed the inter-agency team that included the San Luis Obispo Economic Crimes Unit, the county's Environmental Health Department, the D.A.'s office, and the Pismo Beach Police Department.

As any and all evidence was gathered, Pismo Beach investigators discovered Rasori had forged his mother's name on the title of the mobile home she was living in and then sold it for $50,000 without her knowledge.

Leonard credited Debbie Vallely, director of the Economic Crimes Unit, for providing invaluable assistance in untangling Rasori's web of deceit that eventually came crashing down on April 8, the day of his sentencing to Wasco State Prison. There's been no word on how long Rasori will remain in his mother's dog house.

"On behalf of every CARII member, I'd like to thank Richard Leonard not only for a job well done, but for doing it in a way that demonstrates the consummate professionalism all of us bring to our jobs," said Bruce Hotchkiss, president of the California Association of Regulatory Investigators and Inspectors. "Whether his employers appreciate him or not, his great work infuses the rest of us with a great deal of pride."