Former La Puente Mayor Lujan pleads guilty to perjury
LOS ANGELES - Former Mayor Louie Lujan on Thursday accepted three years probation and a $1,000 fine when he pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to one felony count of perjury.
Lujan was accused of lying on a campaign finance form.
If Lujan rejected the deal and was convicted of perjury, he would have faced up to four years in prison. Either way, Lujan is barred from ever holding elected office again, officials said.
Lujan resigned from his position Wednesday.
After the hearing, Lujan's attorney, Glen Jonas said his client was singled out for a minor infraction.
"If there was ever a benign form of perjury, this was it," Jonas said.
He also said Lujan, who is Latino, was singled out because of his race.
"If you're Hispanic and you fill out a form incorrectly, that's it," Jonas said.
Because he's Hispanic and under a microscope, he should be even more careful and fill out forms correctly. He just makes us other Latinos look like we don't know what we are doing.