Posted on 02/10/2004 10:44:07 PM PST by XHogPilot
COMPTON, Calif. (AP) - The former mayor and two other ex-officials were convicted Tuesday of misappropriating public funds and making an unauthorized loan in a city long plagued by poverty and crime.
Shouts and screams of protest erupted in the crowded courtroom after Superior Court Judge Jack Morgan ordered the three men taken into custody.
Former Mayor Omar Bradley, Councilman Amen Rahh and City Manager John D. Johnson were found guilty of felony charges involving the use of city-issued credit cards for personal expenses.
Court documents indicated they used the cards as "personal piggy banks" to pay private expenses ranging from golf shoes to tooth repair. In addition, some travel expenses were double billed, authorities said.
Two councilwomen, including Delores Zurita, who is Bradley's aunt, were acquitted of similar corruption charges.
Lawyer Ben Pesta, who represents Bradley, said he would likely appeal what he called "an experimental prosecution" over a trivial amount of money. Bradley, 45, was accused of using about $7,500 in public money.
Last March, an appeals court upheld Eric Perrodin's election as mayor and overturned a lower court's decision that had awarded the election to Bradley.
The convictions marked the latest embarrassment for the Los Angeles suburb that has struggled over the years to overcome a reputation for violent crime, underperforming public schools and the moniker as the birthplace of "gangsta rap."
Defense attorneys said during the three-month corruption trial that the defendants never intended to steal public money and had reimbursed the city. Prosecutors countered, however, that the officials were using their municipal credit cards to obtain what amounted to unsecured loans at taxpayer expense.
The three men could each be sentenced to as many as five years in prison when they return to court May 7. They will be imprisoned for 90 days while undergoing psychiatric and other evaluations by state prison officials who will make a sentencing recommendation.
A grand jury indicted the defendants last February on charges of public officer crime occurring between 1999 and 2002.
Rahh, 55, misappropriated $6,668 through double billings and spent an additional $6,100 on personal items, according to grand jury transcripts.
Johnson, 47, misappropriated $5,979 through double billings and spent at least an additional $9,328 on personal items, records show.
Q: What's black and brown and looks great on a lawyer?
A: A Doberman.
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