VISTA -- A retired Oceanside-based California Highway Patrol officer headed to jail from a Vista courtroom Tuesday, accused of conspiring to get a woman's speeding ticket dismissed in exchange for sex -- and allegedly charging his agency overtime for the hotel tryst.

Officer Abram Carabajal, 51, of Oceanside, pleaded not guilty to three felony counts -- perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice and accepting a bribe.

"He went into court, committed perjury," prosecutor Jeff Dort said of Carabajal and the accusations he faces. "Her case was then dismissed. They then went directly to the Guesthouse Inn in Oceanside, spent an hour. He received a bribe."

The bribe, Dort said, was sex.

Judge Marshall Hocket ordered Carabajal jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail. His attorney said it will be difficult for the now-retired veteran officer to come up with the bail.

Carabajal pursed his lips in court as a deputy put a hand on his back, slipped handcuffs on him and led him away.

The accusation that Carabajal lied under oath in exchange for sex has investigators digging into his old citations and cases for any impropriety. Prosecutor Jeff Dort declined to say how far back the probe goes, but he did say that the statute of limitations to charge Carabajal with bribery is three years.

"It's not just this one event," Dort said. "It's Officer Carabajal and what he did as an officer. It affects what he did on the job, affects the citations he issued as a CHP officer. We look back to see if the justice system was affected not only by this conduct, but by other conduct."

Capt. David Webb of CHP's Oceanside office said Tuesday that an internal investigation into Carabajal's old cases has thus far turned up nothing beyond the sex-for-ticket-amnesty allegations involving the woman, Shirin Zarrindej.

On March 12, 2008, Carabajal cited Zarrindej, 47, for speeding. Investigators allege that sometime after that, the two began "communicating with each other, fostering a relationship and conspiring to commit perjury and bribery."

From the time he pulled her over until the July 1 traffic court date, "a relationship brewed between the two," Dort said.

According to court documents, Carabajal lied to a judge in traffic court on July 1, 2008, saying he had not been properly served to testify in Zarrindej's traffic-infraction case.

Immediately following the court appearance, prosecutors allege, the officer and Zarrindej headed straight to an Oceanside hotel and had sex. He reserved the room; she paid the $108 room rental and they were there for an hour, Dort said.

Cajarabal was confronted by fellow officers on July 2, the day following the alleged tryst. He abruptly retired that same day.

Zarrindej later told investigators she had sex with Carabajal in the room, they said.

Zarrindej is charged with conspiracy, perjury and bribery. The Encino woman was arrested Monday night in Los Angeles County and immediately posted $50,000 bail. She is slated to be arraigned in a Vista courtroom April 13.

Defense attorney William Wolfe said there are no allegations that his client approached Zarrindej regarding the sex bribe or forced her into it.

"My understanding from the allegations is that it's quite the contrary," Wolfe said. "They are alleging this was something that the two of them concocted or schemed together. I think that is really evident when you look at the fact that she has been charged as a defendant as well."

Dort and Wolfe each declined to say how CHP officials became suspicious of Carabajal.

"They were the ones that actually figured out this was going on," Dort said, "and we have to hand it to them. To investigate one of your own is always difficult."

Carabajal, who is married and has five children, was a CHP officer for 26 years. In June 1993, while off-duty, Carabajal was shot after he chased burglars who had broken into his neighbors' Oceanside home. He told officers he returned fire at the car from which the shotgun blast came.

Carabajal recovered from the shotgun wound to the chest. No one was ever charged with shooting him.

Sheriff's Department officials said that Carabajal probably will not be put in the general population while he is in jail.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.