Recently in corruption Category

The past caught up with Gracie Gallegos, the former mayor of Pico Rivera. On her rap sheet, a felony conviction for Insurance fraud. Here's the story:

An affidavit filed in federal court and attached here details gun deals, drug deals and talk of contract murder and kidnapping. All apparently connected to "La Familia," a Mexican drug cartel. Here's all the details cartel gun runner - affidavit.pdf 

Lately, there's been a hefty dose of folks taking filet knives to local government and exposing some of the dirty inner workings. Here's a sampling of some of the bad and the ugly:

The mayor, a former mayor and a campaign fixer/suspected bagman who hoped to be on the council face some serious felony bribery/perjury charges after finally appearing in court Wednesday.

If you believe what the DA alleges, small-time greed drove these political hacks to basically extort a developer who may have been in over his head in the first place.

The truth of the matter is Temple City is probably not only local government corrupted by the easy cash that flows from developer's pockets. It's just that most developers aren't carrying around a pocket wire to record the transaction and burn the council. Here's an excerpt from our story on Boss Wilson and her crew:

LOS ANGELES - Temple City's mayor, its former mayor and a former City Council candidate were indicted Wednesday on felony charges of bribery, perjury and other counts related to a nine-month corruption probe into their dealings with a local developer.

The 21-count indictment was returned Monday by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury and unsealed Wednesday by Judge Patricia Schnegg at the criminal courts building in downtown Los Angeles.

Temple City Mayor Judy Wong was charged with six counts of bribery, three counts of perjury and one count of solicitation of bribery. Former mayor Cath Wilson was charged with three counts of bribery and three counts of perjury.

Former City Council candidate Scott Carwile, who was also once Wilson's campaign treasurer, was charged with four counts of perjury and one misdemeanor count of failing to report a campaign contribution.

"It's actually quite rare that we bring bribery charges, because of the nature of the crime," said Deputy District Attorney David Demerjian, who heads the DA's Public Integrity Division. "Normally, neither side involved in the bribery will report it to us. It's usually beneficial to them to just continue on with the conspiracy."

<snip> 

Bail was set at $250,000 for Wong, $150,000 for Wilson and $100,000 for Carwile. All three posted bail, were booked, and were ordered to return July 9 for a pre-trial hearing.

 

California Attorney General Jerry Brown will unveil the findings of a 16-month probe into the Maywood Police Department this afternoon. Here's the AP's version of the story:

LOS ANGELES--A small police department that patrols two gritty cities engaged in widespread use of unlawful force and routinely lacked probable cause to justify arrests and searches, the state attorney general said Tuesday.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown released a lengthy report detailing the findings of a 16-month investigation of the Maywood Police Department.

The report slammed the department on several fronts, criticizing its hiring of officers with misdemeanor convictions and its fostering of what it called an endemic attitude of discourtesy, sexism and racial insensitivity.

"The Maywood Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprived persons of rights, privileges or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution," the report states.

Maywood Police Chief Frank Hauptmann's executive assistant Evelyn Ruedas said the chief was declining comment on the report.

DA's officials say search warrants were served at City Hall this morning and at 2 other locations. Three council members are under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from developer Randy Wang in exchange for providing smooth sailing to Wang's proposed mixed-use development on Las Tunas.

*UPDATE 1:42 p.m. from reporter Alfred Lee:

Investigators searched City Hall and five (not two) residences: Mayor Cathe Wilson, council members Judy Wong and David Capra, former City Council candidate Scott Carwile (whom Randy Wang has accused of taking cash bribes for his campaign) and Jay Liyanage, the former project manager of Wang's Piazza mall project.

Property values in the Inland Empire are sinking to new lows, while the Assessor is suspected of fiddling with nose candy.

Bill Postmus, once a rising star in the Inland Empire's Republican Party, was arrested Thursday morning in possession of a pile of meth. One can only guess what else investigators found when they raided his house, but it's a well-known fact that meth addicts have addicts have a lot of proclivities that don't make for family reading. Here's the early story from the San Bernardino Sun:

Assessor Bill Postmus was arrested this morning after investigators say they found methamphetamine in his Rancho Cucamonga house while serving a search warrant for an ongoing investigation related to possible abuse of his authority as a county official.

About 50 San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office investigators and investigative technicians served 10 search warrants in six cities, including San Bernardino, Highland, Apple Valley, Victorville, Rancho Cucamonga and Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County.

District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Mickey said she could not disclose specific locations.

But she did confirm that a search warrant was also served at the office of Jim Erwin, a former assistant assessor who now serves

 

Manny Lozano's all-expense paid trip to China caught the eye of Dave Demerjian who heads the DAs Public Integrity unit. Apparently he didn't declare the trip on his form 700 as required by state Campaign Finance law. Here's the story:

BALDWIN PARK - The District Attorney's Office is reviewing conflict-of-interest allegations involving Mayor Manuel Lozano, officials said.

The agency received a complaint in September and has been probing the issue since, said Dave Demerjian, head of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Public Integrity Division.

Demerjian would not divulge details about the complaint nor say who filed it.

Local businessman Greg Tuttle said though he didn't file the complaint, the District Attorney's review stems from a grievance he did file last year with the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

In that complaint, Tuttle alleged Lozano took an all-expenses paid trip to China in 2007, but never claimed the trip on his statement of economic interests.

I just finished reading your article in today's SGVT in regard to the "Tow fee controversy."  It is certainly sad that a "model law-enforcement agency" has been tarnished by the act of one individual and or others who failed to oversee the procedure of collecting tow fees. I would like to refer you to the comment made by John Stites, president of the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association who stated in the article published on Friday, October 17th:  "The higher-ups in the department bear responsibility for the missing money" He goes on to say: "We're not money men, Oftentimes they put us in positions we are not trained to handle and it ends up going bad.  I've seen it happen more than once." 
 
Of course this does not mean that someone is not responsible for his or her own lack of honesty, nor does it mean that all the blame should be given to the current higher-up's.  If my information is correct, and perhaps you would be interested in looking for the facts regarding the policy of where and how money was collected for city tow fees that was instigated years ago during Sherman Block's term as Sheriff of L. A. County.   It was and is a poorly thought out policy. 
 
Now, for the main reason I am taking the time to write to you personally.  As I continued to read your article, I was disappointed in you and your comments regarding the "Joe Six-Packs" of the world and the "greasy paws of a tow monkey."  I don't think you considered that everyone who gets their vehicle towed does not fall into the category that you so cutely labeled "Joe Six-Packs" .  People get their vehicles towed for many reasons,  Often, it may be because their vehicle was stolen, recovered and impounded.  They are innocent victims of a crime committed against them. I won't take the time to go into the other various reasons that vehicles are towed, stored or impounded, but I assure you that most of the time it is not for drunken driving as you insinuated.  As for the comment:  "No doubt it would be a helluva lot easier than putting the cash in the hands of a greasy paws of a tow monkey" .....What where you thinking? 
 
First of all, money collected by towing companies are generally collected at a office counter staffed by reputable employees. Secondly, for you to demean the men and women who perform a service for individuals, the community and the police agencies shows me that you are not in touch with reality.  Have you ever noticed a tow truck on the freeway assisting in the removal of a disabled or wrecked vehicle. Would you not agree that the driver is putting him or herself in danger?  If you should ever have the misfortune to be stranded in your vehicle, would you consider the person who is coming to your aid a...."greasy tow monkey?"
 
I don't know anything about you, other than the fact that according to your column you have the title of Metro Editor.  Therefore, even though I might disagree with your published comments, I would never put a derogatory label on you.  I suggest that in the future you might want to refrain from labeling people with inflammatory character references.
 
Sincerely,
Andria Welch

My favorite MAD cover of all time: