Tony Sears retires after 31 years in the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Monday starts the first full week of retirement for Tony Sears. He said his goodbyes to his co-workers at the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office in South Lake Tahoe, a place he'd called home since joining as a deputy district attorney on October 22, 1990.

"Sometimes it feels like I just got here," said Sears as he reflected over his three decades on the South Shore.

Sears grew up in Northern California, then went to Washington University in St. Louis for his undergrad work, then onto Drake University for law school. He passed the bar in 1985, then joined the Riverside DA's office in January of 1986 as a deputy district attorney. He was their general prosecutor in 1989, then left for private practice in a two-person law firm until moving to Lake Tahoe in 1990.

When he arrived he was one of five deputy DA's in the South Lake Tahoe office which also had an assistant DA. During his tenure, until Peter O'Hara left the department in 2015, they never had less than four deputies, and that was only if they were looking for a new one. With Sears' departure, there is only one deputy DA currently based in South Lake Tahoe, Casey Mandrell. Sears knows how that is as he spent a year as the sole deputy DA in town.

"It's been an honor to work with some tremendous prosecutors and support staff," said Sears.

"On behalf of the citizens of El Dorado County, we extend a huge thank you to Tony for his unwavering commitment to justice and wish him the best in retirement," said the El Dorado County DA's office in a Facebook post. "Colleagues describe Tony as an honest and fair man with a big heart and overarching concern for our community."

Sears said the unique environment in South Lake Tahoe allowed his office to resolve more cases with a fair resolution before going to trial than in other communities. While in El Dorado County, Sears lost track of how many cases he'd taken to trial, but he estimated 60-80. In comparison, in the 2.5 years in Riverside County, there were 43 trials.

Being on the other side of people who are accused of breaking the law may make a deputy district attorney not a favorite of criminals. Sears says once or twice a year he is approached in public by people who thank him for being tough on them which helped them change their lives for the better.

"Thank you for caring enough for sticking my toes in the fire," Sears says of the former defendant's appreciation. He says they thank him for what they've become, but Sears tell them to "look in the mirror as it was you who did it."

He sees victims out in public as well, and they are thankful for his advocating for them and getting them through the process.

Every case is important, he said, from DUIs to the most serious situations. In a career in the justice system as long as Sears, there are cases that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

One of those is the murder of nine-year-old Rebbeca Aramburo at the Campground By The Lake in South Lake Tahoe on September 21, 2001. She was taken at gunpoint in Lakewood, Wash. Aug. 13, 2001, from a relative's house by Lisa Platz, her non-custodial mother, and Platz's boyfriend, James Csucsai. After a nine-hour standoff outside the tent the three were staying, law enforcement rushed inside when they thought the suspects were about to do harm to themselves. Inside they found a pool of blood and the child deceased with two lacerations across her neck. The two adults had cut wrists but survived and were arrested. Csucsai hanged himself with a bedsheet at the South Lake Tahoe jail in April 2003 after pleading not guilty to the murder of Rebbeca. Later that year, Platz was found guilty by a South Lake Tahoe jury and is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. The now 51-year-old is at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla.

Sears said that trial was emotional, and he can still see the crime scene photos in his head.

"There was so much tragedy in that case," said Sears.

Another case and subsequent trial that will stay with him was the vicious 2005 attack of Susan Rizk by the father of her child, Steven Wasserman. He used a 2-foot sword to stab and cut Susan within inches of her life in front of their four-year-old child. Sears visited Susan while she was in the ICU in Reno for two months and vividly remembers the case and the evidence. He said he told Susan in her hospital bed that she needed to "get better so I can prosecute Steve." At first Wasserman plead guilty by reason of insanity, but was given seven years to life in prison per an agreement that was reached as the jury was being selected. He has been at the California State Prison in Corcoran since 2006. He was denied parole in 2011, 2018, was denied a move to advance hearing in October of this year. His next parole hearing is scheduled for July 2023.

He said he did the job because it was important, but is was just as important to be able to compartmentalize during his criminal justice career.

Sears will only be retired for 13 days before he heads back to the courtroom, but this time he has to show up because he received a notice for jury duty.

Even though retired from his job, the married father of two remains as a member of the Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees.

"Its been a breath of fresh air," Sears said of the board. "Its a wonderful group of people at the college and I can't say enough good things about them.

When Hans Uthe retired as a deputy district attorney for El Dorado County in 2013, Sears said he told him the timing was right to leave.

"He said he'd given everything he had to give," said Sears. "I gave everything I had to give, now its some time for myself."