Besieged Roth to Quit as Orange County Supervisor : Politics: He says a 10-month influence-peddling probe has damaged his ability to carry out his duties.

SANTA ANA —  Orange County Supervisor Don R. Roth announced Tuesday that he will resign, saying that a 10-month criminal investigation into influence-peddling allegations against him had eroded his ability to carry out his official duties.

The 71-year-old supervisor said he will give up his Anaheim-based seat Monday, prompting immediate speculation over whom Gov. Pete Wilson may pick to replace him in one of Orange County’s most powerful and visible political posts.

After the surprise announcement, Orange County prosecutors said they will continue to pursue allegations that Roth traded political favors for thousands of dollars in unreported gifts from Southland business people who relied on his vote.

“If there is sufficient evidence for criminal charges, the penalty is fines and/or jail, and the penal statutes are not satisfied by (Roth) stepping down from office. There’s more to this case than that,” said Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, who rose to prominence in the 1970s by prosecuting several major political corruption cases.

The case broke last April when The Times disclosed that Roth had accepted three trips to Santa Catalina Island and what amounted to an $8,500 interest-free loan from a Laguna Beach family seeking to have a piece of land rezoned for a $5-million condominium project.

Allegations quickly grew to include airline flight upgrades, landscaping work, more than $15,000 in home improvements, and other items that Roth was said to have received free. The supervisor did not report any of these items in disclosure statements mandated by voters in 1974 in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.

In many cases, Roth voted on issues involving the donors within a year of allegedly receiving the gifts, a possible violation of state conflict-of-interest laws.

Roth also double-billed his campaign and a public commission nearly $2,900 in expenses for a technology tour of Europe in pursuit of one of his biggest dreams: a high-speed train between Anaheim and Las Vegas. He later repaid the money to his campaign.

While pressure on Roth has mounted for months amid new disclosures of potential illegalities, his resignation came as a jolt to many who listened to his announcement in hushed silence at the close of the weekly board meeting.

“I thought I saw history happening,” said Dolores Otting, who runs a garbage service in Orange County and has sparred frequently with county supervisors over waste-management issues. “I couldn’t believe he was resigning. . . . I hope it is the beginning of a lot of changes in the county in the 1990s.”

A former real estate agent, Roth built a strong base of political support among the business community in Anaheim in the 1980s, first winning the mayor’s office and then the county supervisor’s post in 1987. But his connections to many of those same business people ultimately prompted his political exit.

With tears welling, Roth exchanged handshakes and hugs with his four colleagues on the Orange County Board of Supervisors after announcing what he termed “a very, very difficult decision.”

A former Navy aviator known by colleagues as a political fighter, Roth has vowed that he will be exonerated, even saying that he will seek reelection to his county seat in June, 1994.

But Roth said the combined weight of the criminal investigation and the intense publicity it has generated convinced him that the controversy was “taking its toll” on his job performance.

“The office of supervisor requires full-time attention to constituent interest and concerns,” Roth said, reading a prepared statement. “It requires that each board member fully concentrate on important countywide issues. It requires a total focus on public service.”

Roth later refused to elaborate on the reasoning or timing of his decision, but both his aides and law enforcement officials said the resignation was not linked to a deal with the district attorney.

Last month, Capizzi’s office said in a court filing used to search Roth’s bank records that it suspected the supervisor of fraud, theft, obstruction of justice and other possible felonies. Roth also could face misdemeanor charges for failing to report gifts and then voting on matters affecting the donors.

Dana Reed, one of Roth’s lawyers, said the supervisor acknowledges that he may have committed “scores” of “inadvertent, technical violations” of the state’s Political Reform Act. But, he said, “We are absolutely convinced that his actions do not rise to criminal conduct.”

Reed said Roth holds no expectation that his decision will influence the investigation against him.

Robert M. Stern, a co-author of the state’s Political Reform Act and director of the California Commission on Campaign Financing, a private group in Los Angeles, said it is very rare for an official in a public corruption case to step down before any charges have been filed.

Roth has abstained from 10 votes in the last two months to avoid potential conflicts of interest that have arisen during the case. And Steven Malone, Roth’s chief of staff, said staff members have been forced to devote more and more time in recent months to determining what votes may prove problematic for the supervisor.

The issue has also shadowed Roth at his public appearances. Constituents have peppered him with questions at meetings and community events, Malone said.

“He felt that so much attention was being placed upon that part of his world, he was no longer able to effectively work on the issues as he saw them--the county budget, privatization, a variety of things,” Malone said.

“We became fixated on that issue,” Malone added. Malone said he picked up the newspaper each day wondering “Are you going to be in there? It’s just a constant onslaught of bad publicity.”

In reaching his decision Monday, Roth indicated that the resignation may have been the most difficult thing he has ever had to do, Malone said. He broke the news to his staff in an emotional meeting Tuesday morning.

As the district attorney’s investigation intensified over the last 10 months, Roth’s colleagues on the board also started voicing a growing concern that the controversy may be dragging down the entire board.

But on Tuesday, the other supervisors were quick to praise Roth for his commitment to the county, citing his work on transportation, family care and other issues. “When Don called me at home (Monday) night to advise me of his decision, my heart was heavy,” Supervisor Thomas F. Riley said.

Officials said it could be months before Wilson names a replacement for Roth. The supervisor’s announcement set off widespread speculation in local political circles.

Franz Wisner, a spokesman for Wilson, said the governor has no timetable for naming a replacement for Roth and has yet to begin drawing up a list of candidates.

Times staff writer Eric Bailey contributed to this report.