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Good - I'm glad they were arrested. Now I hope they can convict them and send them to prison for awhile. And, they should have to repay the salaries they illegally paid themselves.
lol battering ramBy JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer John Rogers, Associated
Press Writer – 14 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – The mayor and ex-city manager of the Los Angeles suburb of Bell were among eight current and former city officials arrested Tuesday in a corruption scandal that authorities said cost the city more than $5 million in excessive salaries and illegal personal loans.
The district attorney's office said several former and current City Council members were taken into custody along with ex-city manager Robert Rizzo and Mayor Oscar Hernandez.
"This, needless to say, is corruption on steroids," District Attorney Steve Cooley said at a news conference, standing next to a display of pictures of the suspects.
The district attorney, state attorney general and others have been investigating officials in the small working-class city since it was disclosed this summer that they were paying themselves huge salaries.
Rizzo, who was making nearly $800,000 a year, was booked on 53 counts of misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest.
The investigations involve allegations of corruption, misuse of public funds and voter fraud in the city where one in six of the 40,000 residents live in poverty.
A message left at Rizzo's Huntington Beach home was not immediately returned.
Others arrested were former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, council members George Mirabal and Luis Artiga, and former council members George Cole and Victor Bello.
Former Police Chief Randy Adams, who was also scrutinized in the salary scandal, was not taken into custody.
Cooley, who knew Adams when he was the police chief in Glendale, said there was no evidence he committed any crimes.
"Being paid excessive salaries is not a crime," Cooley said. "Illegally obtaining those salaries is a crime."
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Most of the arrests went smoothly, though police used a battering ram at the home of Hernandez before he opened the door.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100921/..._bell_salaries
Good - I'm glad they were arrested. Now I hope they can convict them and send them to prison for awhile. And, they should have to repay the salaries they illegally paid themselves.
It's going to be interesting to see if the charges stick. If they followed proper procedures they could legally pay themselves obscene salaries.
I don’t know why everyone is so upset about the Bell City Managers…City Managers have to eat too…
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