The State - News from April 17, 1987

The former manager of operations and maintenance for the University of California, Santa Barbara, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading no contest to three counts of embezzlement in the building kickback scandal that led to the resignation of Chancellor Robert Huttenback. Holger Chris Ferdinandson, 57, also agreed to give his $100,000 Goleta home to the university as restitution. Prosecutors dropped eight other embezzlement counts as part of the plea bargain. Ferdinandson was accused of falsifying university contracts to pay for work done on his home and of padding contracts or issuing phony work orders to make between $110,000 and $150,000 in kickbacks to two businessmen. A probation report disclosed previous convictions in Missouri, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and California for forgery and interstate transportation of counterfeiting equipment.