Five ex-officials from Bell, California, convicted in corruption trial

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

LOS ANGELES | Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:48pm EDT

(Reuters) - Five former elected officials from the scandal-plagued California city of Bell were convicted on Wednesday of misusing municipal funds by collecting exorbitant salaries in a case that drew national attention as a symbol of public corruption.

Capping two weeks of deliberations, a Los Angeles County jury found ex-Mayor Oscar Hernandez and former City Council members Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal each guilty on five felony counts of misappropriation of public funds and acquitted them of five other counts.

Former Councilman George Cole was convicted of two counts and acquitted of two others, while ex-Councilman Victor Bellow was found guilty of four counts and acquitted of four others.

A sixth defendant, former Councilman Luis Artiga, was acquitted of all 12 counts against him and wept openly as Judge Kathleen Kennedy told him he was free to go.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/20/us-usa-california-corruption-idUSBRE92J17M20130320

[KansDem]

1. "...its city manager, Robert Rizzo, was paid a salary of $787,000..."

That's the gig I want!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

2. Ah, a new goal for city managers in Illinois. The word will spread.

[Purplehazed]

3. The Bell Police chief....

was paid $457,000 a year. When the scandal hit, he was turfed. He retired and petitioned the state to increase his pension to $510,000 a year cuz he apparently was not satisfied with only receiving $240,000 a year.

Unadulterated greed.

[SwankyXomb]

5. He wasn't charged due to

being cozy with former DA Cooley.

[Le Taz Hot]

4. They were acquitted?

Bell, CA is a city the size of a postage stamp. I spent a couple of my growing-up years in Bell and it wasn't a rich city back then. From what I understand it's gone downhill considerably since then.

[Selatius]

6. This is what the entire country looks like if the "greed is good" philosophy spreads.

Or maybe, it has already spread nationwide. It's just that these guys didn't buy off the right people. I'm sure those bankers on Wall Street could've taught them a thing or two about bending the law and finding loopholes. They managed to purposely crash the economy peddling fraudulent securities and then got a government bailout.

[formercia]

7. Not too big to fail

If you're going to steal; steal big.