A department head, city councilman, and mayor of Cudahy were arrested on Friday of last week on charges that they accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from supporters of a medical marijuana location in the city.
According to the complaint, the three solicited and accepted more than $17,000 in cash in order to have their support for opening a new medicinal marijuana location in the city.
According to evidence revealed after the charges were unsealed, the FBI recorded conversations in which the city officials told an FBI informant that the city planned on approving only one or two permits for medicinal marijuana locations, and they could help secure the permit with a cash payment. The original payment was for $15,000, followed that night by another $2,000 payment.
The director of the Code Enforcement department alluded to possible other bribes taken by members of the council.
From the Imperial Valley News:
Special agents with the FBI this morning arrested the mayor of the city of Cudahy, a member of the Cudahy City Council, and the head of the city’s Code Enforcement Division on federal bribery charges.
A criminal complaint filed in United States District Court alleges that the three officials from the city in southeastern Los Angeles County accepted a total of $17,000 in cash bribes earlier this year. According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, the three officials requested and accepted cash payments in exchange for supporting the opening of a “medical marijuana” store in the city.
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