The former mayor of Maywood, CA has been hit with a slew of charges, including embezzlement, bribery, cockfighting, and voiding the parking tickets of his friends and family, among other charges.
LA County prosecutors allege that Ramon Medina, 61, used public funds to remodel his home; accepted bribes from contractors for city work; and ran an illegal cock fighting ring with his son.
Maywood is a city of about 27,000 near Los Angeles.
More details from ABC:
Former mayor and councilman Ramon Medina, 61, is set to be arraigned April 29 on six counts of soliciting a bribe, three counts each of conspiracy to commit a crime, embezzlement and failing to file campaign statements, two counts each of grand theft, misappropriation of public funds and perjury under oath, and one count of failure to report behested payments.
Medina is accused of seeking and receiving bribes from several of his co-defendants, who allegedly sought to gain favor and do business in one of the county’s smallest and most densely populated cities, according to a statement released by the District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s office also alleges that Medina, along with former City Manager Reuben Martinez and Building and Planning Director David Mango, tried several times to sell three redevelopment properties owned by the city and intended for affordable housing for less than half of their fair-market value for use as a 24/7 charitable bingo hall.
The three men allegedly authorized Felipe Velarde, a general maintenance contractor, to complete construction projects — including building handicap ramps and driveways on private properties, installing speed bumps on streets that did not meet industry standards and doing repair work at Mango’s Studio City home — with the use of public funds between September 2016 and June 2018.