Posted on 04/12/2007 8:52:24 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Five current and former leaders of this suburban Los Angeles city were charged Thursday with the misappropriation of more than $100,000 in public funds.
Mayor Louis Byrd, Mayor Pro-Tem Fernando Pedroza and former City Council members Armando Rea, Arturo Reyes and Ricardo Sanchez were scheduled to be arraigned Friday, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in a statement.
Authorities allege the five collected thousands of dollars in taxpayer money by charging personal expenses to city credit cards and other schemes.
In one case, prosecutors said Pedroza charged $1,500 on a city credit card to pay for an exotic dancer and private room at a gentlemen's club in Guadalajara, Mexico, in May 2002. He was visiting Mexico at the time to attend a sister-city conference.
Messages left for Pedroza, Byrd and Rea were not immediately returned Thursday. Reyes and Sanchez could not be reached for comment; their telephone numbers were unlisted. It was unclear whether any had retained an attorney.
Prosecutors said the officials misappropriated most of the money by paying themselves to attend meetings held by two public agencies, one that issues bonds and another that publishes a newsletter. The defendants paid themselves $450 per meeting even though their attendance wasn't considered outside their normal responsibilities as council members, prosecutors said.
In 2000 and 2001, the payments helped some earn as much as $40,000 annually - far more than a $10,000 yearly cap under state law, prosecutors said.
The defendants face one count each of misappropriation of public funds and could be sentenced to six years in state prison if convicted.
Last year, another former Lynwood mayor was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison for funneling millions of dollars in city contracts to a sham consulting company he secretly controlled. Paul Richards was found guilty of multiple federal counts of mail fraud, money laundering, extortion and making false statements to investigators.
Lynwood, a primarily Hispanic city of about 70,000, is located 18 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Didn’t Lynwood used to be a predominantly black town?
Using the usual MSM decoder ring...
I presume they would all have a (D) after their name...
The author just forgot to put it in....
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