OC Sheriff and Mafia ties?

The story of indicted Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona snowballs. The OC Weekly carries a story with the above photo of Carona in a Newport Beach bar with convicted felon Rick Rizzolo, a Chicago Mafia associate. In his story, R. Scott Moxley says this:

Pictures speak volumes, and they can raise questions—like what the hell was Sheriff Mike Carona thinking when he posed for a photo with Rick Rizzolo, a man the FBI calls a mob associate?