…let us turn our eyes to the West, and the state of California. It’s like a whole other country! Specifically, like a third world banana republic.
On Tuesday, the mayor of Cudahy, David M. Silva, resigned.
Silva, Councilman Osvaldo Conde and Angel Perales, the former head of code enforcement, are accused of taking $17,000 in bribes from a marijuana dispensary owner who was working as an FBI informant. The officials allegedly took the bribes in exchange for their help in opening a store in the small blue-collar city, according to federal authorities.
I’m intrigued by the idea that the FBI was using a marijuana dispensary owner as an informant, given the tensions between California and the Feds over medical pot. But there’s more to the story:
In the Cudahy case, a 146-page criminal complaint indicates that the arrests were part of a larger investigation that includes allegations of election fraud. The complaint also refers to the possible involvement of a towing company and a sheriff’s deputy. The federal document, which includes about 130 pages of wiretap transcripts, paints a picture of unchecked power by officials who boldly plotted taking bribes and talked about accepting cash as a way to avoid public disclosure required for campaign contributions.
There’s a complimentary story in the LAT that goes into more detail about the alleged election fraud. Two men who ran for city council seats had their cars vandalized, rocks and bricks thrown at their homes, and then…
Late one night, a surveillance camera on Garcia’s home captured a car stopping nearby. A man crouched behind Garcia’s pickup and hurled a Molotov cocktail at the house.
By the way, remember Maywood? The Maywood PD also patrolled Cudahy. A former Maywood PD chief is quoted in the article as having concerns about Cudahy’s elections and the “aura of intimidation”. (As far as I can tell, that chief came in at the very end of the police department’s existence, and did not have anything to do with the circumstances that led to the department being shut down.) The “towing company” involvement is interesting as well; as you may recall, there were some questionable things going on in Maywood with a towing company as well.
More:
In one of the wiretapped conversations, a Cudahy employee, Simon Rojas, spoke about the lengths to which he would go to protect his boss, Conde. Federal prosecutors said the pistol-packing code enforcement worker described “his willingness to commit acts of violence against anyone who” meddled with Conde.
Tough town, if the code enforcement folks need to carry guns.
Related: “What you have just said is among the most absurd things I have ever heard.”
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2012 at 9:24 am and is filed under California Über Alles, Clippings, Cops, Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
[…] Why are the badges being recalled? Well, they’ve been a source of concern since the attorney general issued an opinion in 2007, stating that the badges “created the potential for civilians to falsely pose as law enforcement officers”. The department swears that the badge recall is prompted by that opinion, and has nothing to do with the arrests of the Cudhay council members. […]