Thread: 8 former city officials in Bell, Calif., reported arrested

Bell corruption: Rizzo gets 33 months for tax fraud

Related photos »

Former Bell City Administrator Robert Rizzo in court in 2012. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times / January 10, 2012)

• Also
• 
• Photos: Residents protest Bell officials' salaries
• 
• Full coverage: Corruption in Bell" width="187" height="105" title="Full coverage: Corruption in Bell" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-right: 0px !important; float: none !important;">Full coverage: Corruption in Bell
• 
• Former Bell second-in-command gets 11 years in prison for corruption
• 
• Bell trial ends in chaos
• 
• Photos: Bell trial verdicts

By Jeff Gottlieb
April 14, 2014, 12:15 p.m.

Robert Rizzo, the former top administrator who oversaw an era of corruption in the small, working-class city of Bell, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison Monday on tax fraud charges.

For Rizzo, the sentence is likely the first of two prison terms he will be handed this week. He returns to court Wednesday, when he is expected to be sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison on corruption-related charges.

He was also ordered to pay $256,000 in restitution to the federal government.

Federal prosecutors said Rizzo’s tax crimes were particularly “egregious” because he stole money as the city administrator in Bell and then turned around and cheated the federal government.

Rizzo "abused his position to fleece the City of Bell of hundreds of thousands of dollars that he paid himself in excessive salary -- monies that could have been spent for the benefit of the people of the city he served,” the U.S. Attorney’s sentencing memorandum said. “But not satisfied with betraying the trust placed in him by the city and its residents, in an extraordinary display of greed, defendant also found it necessary to cheat the IRS.”

Rizzo was accused of claiming more than $770,000 in phony losses, mostly tied to his sprawling horse ranch in Washington state, which he wrongly claimed was rental property. He also was accused of claiming that $120,000 in construction work on his posh Huntington Beach home was used for his horse ranch.

Once the highest paid municipal administrator in California, and likely the nation, Rizzo became the face of the widespread corruption in Bell, doling out city funds to colleagues and business interests, falsifying public records and misappropriating public funds.

When he was forced to resign in 2010, Rizzo had a total compensation package of roughly $1.5 million and was on track to become the highest paid public pensioner when he retired.

Facing 69 felony corruption counts, Rizzo elected to plead no contest last year and offered to help the prosecution in its case against the city’s former assistant city manager, Angela Spaccia.

Spaccia was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in state prison last week after being convicted of misappropriating public funds and other corruption-related crimes.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#ixzz2ytJvDufb

Bell, California: The Most Corrupt Town in America - Gawker

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039)]gawker.com/5644817/bell-california-americas-most-corrupt-town‎

Gawker
Sep 22, 2010

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Ex-California city leader gets 12 years in prison

By JOHN ROGERS
Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2014 - 12:12 am

LOS ANGELES -- The former city manager of Bell, Calif., has been sentenced to 12 years in state prison for a corruption scheme that nearly bankrupted the small city just outside Los Angeles.

Robert Rizzo was sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, where he earlier pleaded no contest to 69 counts including conspiracy, misappropriation of public funds and falsification of public records.

It was revealed in 2010 that Rizzo was giving himself an annual salary and benefits package of $1.5 million in a city where a quarter of the population lives below the federal poverty line.

On Monday, Rizzo was sentenced separately to 33 months in federal prison for income tax evasion.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/16/632...ty-leader.html

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/16/632...#storylink=cpy

Rizzo gets 12 years in Bell scandal



Al Seib / Los Angeles Times


By Jeff Gottlieb | 10:36 a.m.
The former Bell chief's sentencing closes the books on a sweeping public corruption case that made the Southeast L.A. city synonymous with graft. Rizzo was also ordered to pay $8,845,000 in restitution to Bell.

Timeline: Corruption in Bell


Full coverage: Bell case

http://www.latimes.com/#ixzz2z4nAjUoJ

Former Bell Councilwoman Teresa Jacobo gets two-year prison sentence

Former Bell City Councilwoman Teresa Jacobo listens while her attorney, Leo Moriarty, speaks on her behalf prior to her sentencing in Los Angeles County Superior Court. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

By CORINA KNOLL contact the reporter

Former Bell Councilwoman Teresa Jacobo is sentenced to two years in state prison

Last year, Teresa Jacobo took the witness stand and defended herself as a committed city leader who took calls from constituents at all hours and was a tireless advocate for the people of Bell.

"I thought I was doing a very good job to be able to earn that, yes," Jacobo testified about her near-$100,000 salary in the trial that would end with her and four other former council members convicted of misappropriating public funds.

I'd just like to express my apologies and to mention that I have accepted my responsibility and I am very sorry for my negligence.- Teresa Jacob, former Bell councilwoman

On Friday — moments before being denied probation and sentenced to two years in state prison — Jacobo stood to make her first public admission of guilt.

"I'd just like to express my apologies and to mention that I have accepted my responsibility and I am very sorry for my negligence," the 61-year-old said in a small, trembling voice. "I intended to serve with all my heart. And just like that, with all my heart, I apologize to the city of Bell."

Judge Kathleen Kennedy said the acknowledgment felt insincere and recalled that Jacobo displayed a "defiant attitude" throughout court proceedings.

lRelatedLOCAL
Former Bell Councilman Cole sentenced for role in corruption scandal SEE ALL RELATED

"I think that she's sorry she now has to pay the consequences," the judge said.

The third of five former Bell council members to be sentenced by Kennedy, Jacobo received the harshest punishment yet. The judge reasoned that the former real estate agent once held a sophisticated job and should have known better.

The reaction from more than a dozen friends and family members in the courtroom was dramatic. Several wept loudly. One woman shouted expletives at the judge, prompting sheriff's deputies to respond.

"You're dead," someone said to an attorney for Bell.


Bell ex-mayor, convicted in scandal, filled with 'shame' and 'remorse' Jeff Gottlieb

Jacobo sat in her chair stunned, one hand over her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes.

Afterward, Jacobo's husband denied an interview request. "Too hard for me," he said, shaking his head.

Jacobo's attorney said his client was not an evil person and argued the corruption case ultimately benefited Bell. Leo Moriarty pointed out to Kennedy that Bell was currently in good financial shape, there was a heightened awareness about transparency across the state, and a chord of civic responsibility had been struck within the city.

"Sometimes there are good consequences from bad actions," Moriarty said. He would not comment outside the courtroom.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Sean Hassett had requested a four-year sentence, but said he was pleased Jacobo received prison time.

"Jacobo abused the trust of the people of Bell, and left the City deeply in debt, all to serve her own greedy self-interest," the prosecutor had written in his sentencing memo.

Appointed to the council in 2000, Jacobo was paid $434 a month for the part-time position and kept her job in real estate. But her newfound role, she said, often proved to be round-the-clock work.

Volunteering at the local food bank, organizing breast cancer awareness marches, fielding calls from residents on her home and cell phones — Jacobo portrayed herself as a devoted public servant.

"I was working very hard to improve the lives of the citizens of Bell," the mother of four testified during the criminal trial. "I was bringing in programs and working with them to build leadership and good families, strong families."

Jacobo testified it was then-city manager Robert Rizzo — sentenced in April to 12 years in prison — who informed her she would be getting a raise and working full-time for the city. She also said Rizzo encouraged the council to vote itself a 12% annual pay increase in 2008 for sitting on city boards that prosecutors said rarely, if ever, met.

Jacobo, who has credit for two days served, was given 30 days to get her affairs in order. She must also pay more than $242,000 in restitution to Bell.

She, along with Victor Bello, George Cole, Oscar Hernandez and George Mirabal, pleaded no contest in April to the remaining charges that left jurors deadlocked more than a year ago.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-b...726-story.html

Final Bell council member sentenced

Former Bell City Councilman Victor Bello listens to his sentencing proceedings in Los Angeles Superior Court. Bello was ordered to serve one year in jail and five years' probation for his role in the Bell corruption scandal. (Mark Boster / Associated Press)


By CORINA KNOLL contact the reporter

With Victor Bello's sentencing, the four-year Bell corruption case comes to a close

Ex- Bell Councilman Victor Bello gets one year in jail, five years' probation for role in corruption scandal
'I'm here to apologize for what happened,' former Bell Councilman Victor Bello says at his sentencing

The four-year corruption case that pushed the tiny town of Bell into the national spotlight and spurred the state to scrutinize the size of all public salaries drew to a close Friday in a largely empty Los Angeles courtroom where a final defendant met his punishment.

In front of a few reporters and a handful of spectators, Victor Bello — a onetime phone jack installer who was paid nearly $100,000 for his part-time duties as a councilman — was sentenced to a year in jail and five years' probation. It was a quiet end to what had been dubbed the most massive case of public corruption in Los Angeles County.


Related: Former Bell Councilman Cole sentenced for role in corruption scandal Jeff Gottlieb


"I'm sure I'm not the only one in this room that's kind of happy we're finally resolving the last of these cases," said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy, who presided over all the Bell corruption cases, handing down sentences short and long.

"It's been a very long road for all of us," the judge said. "It's kind of like this whole city of Bell was a very poorly written soap opera of personalities."

Bello, the judge said, had acted as a thorn in city administrator Robert Rizzo's side and his willingness to plead guilty years ago distinguished him from his co-defendants.

lRelated
LOCAL Former Bell Councilwoman Teresa Jacobo gets two-year prison sentence SEE ALL RELATED

"It just seems so obvious to all of us now, but I don't know that Mr. Bello really realized at the time exactly the extent of his malfeasance," Kennedy said.

The 56-year-old is scheduled to surrender Aug. 29 and was ordered to serve 500 hours of community service and pay more than $177,000 in restitution to Bell.

It just seems so obvious to all of us now, but I don't know that Mr. Bello really realized at the time exactly the extent of his malfeasance.- L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy

Bello's sentence was similar to that of his former council colleagues Oscar Hernandez and George Mirabal, who each received one-year jail terms. Teresa Jacobo received two years in state prison while George Cole was given home confinement. Rizzo and assistant city administrator Angela Spaccia, whom Kennedy called "the real architects of the fraud," were hit with 12-year prison terms.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Sean Hassett said he respected Kennedy's decisions, but believed that all five former council members should have received four years in prison. "Not that the people of Bell will ever truly get justice for what happened," he added.

Bello's attorney said he was pleased with the sentence because his client had 340 days of credit and thus would likely serve only about two additional days behind bars. Leo Moriarty said he had taken the case pro bono and was sympathetic to Bello, who lost his father to suicide and struggled with a language disorder. "I was really struck with his character," Moriarty said.

In many ways, Bello was the most pitiful of the accused officials.

Born in Cuba, he arrived in the states in 1987 with a high-school education. A decade passed and he joined the Bell City Council.

But Bello eventually butted heads with his colleagues and in 2006 he complained about them to the district attorney. In 2009, he penned a letter to the office, alleging misconduct by Rizzo. "I am pleading for help, for my city, our community," it read.


Related: Former councilman sentenced to a year in Bell corruption scandal Jeff Gottlieb

When interviewed by investigators about the complaint more than 10 months later, Bello mentioned his salary, which raised a red flag. A Times' June 2010 story about Bell's bloated salaries added to investigators' criminal investigation.

Banished from City Hall by Rizzo, Bello appeared only for council meetings. He resigned in 2009 and took a job at the city food bank, but was still paid his nearly six-figure council salary.

Arrested in September 2010, Bello could not afford to post bond as his co-defendants did. He remained in his jail cell under suicide watch. When his bail was finally reduced, he had served more than five months.

The only defendant willing to plead guilty after the 2011 preliminary hearings, Bello was ready to serve two years in state prison until the deal was rejected by the district attorney's office.

Divorced for years and with two daughters, Bello now lives with his mother in an apartment in Bell. He is currently unemployed and is on disability for mental health issues. He once revealed to reporters a box of his medications for high blood pressure, anxiety and depression.

Over the years, Bello kept to himself at court proceedings and was often unaccompanied. On Friday, dressed in a navy suit, he nervously made a short statement to the court.

"I'm here to apologize for what happened, I should have known better," he said. "I really, really apologize and it's something I should have looked into more. That's what I was trying to do and it got to this point. I was trying to figure out how things work, and again I am sorry."

http://www.latimes.com/local/politic...802-story.html