USA: Cudahy, California Mayor David Silva Quit On Tuesday After He Along With A City Council Member And A Former City Employee Were Arrested On Federal Corruption/Bribery Charges

KFI news 98

Cudahy Mayor Quits

written by Staff

Tuesday July 3, 2012

CUDAHY, CA (CNS) - Cudahy Mayor David Silva, who was arrested along with a City Council member and a former city employee on federal corruption charges, resigned today.

The mayor's departure was announced during a Cudahy City Council meeting attended by activists calling on Silva and councilman to step aside, ABC7 reported.

Silva, 61, City Councilman Osvaldo Conde, 50, and former code enforcement director Angel Perales, 43, are charged with bribery in a criminal complaint unsealed June 22. The three are accused of demanding and accepting a total of $17,000 in bribes to approve the opening of a marijuana dispensary in Cudahy, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph N. Akrotirianakis.

The bribery charge carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison. All three are scheduled to be arraigned July 19.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the charges, Conde, Silva and Perales met a confidential FBI informant Feb. 28 at the El Potrero nightclub in Cudahy, where they allegedly accepted a total of $15,000 cash as bribe payments.

Later that evening, Conde again met the informant to receive an additional $2,000 as a bribe, prosecutors allege.

The 143-page affidavit states that a series of recorded conversations show the city officials explaining that the Cudahy City Council planned to approve only one or two permits for medical marijuana dispensaries in Cudahy.

According to the affidavit, Perales sought to broker an arrangement between the FBI informant and city officials in which the informant would make cash payments in exchange for the officials supporting a request for one of the permits.

Perales explained to the informant that there are ``three parts to this game'' -- Conde, Silva and himself, according to the affidavit.

Perales also allegedly told the informant that Conde and Silva ``are not your typical'' city officials. They've ``dealt with, uh, you know, people that throw money down,'' Perales said, according to the affidavit.

Prior to a meeting with Conde and Silva at a Pico Rivera restaurant, Perales instructed the informant how he should broach the topic of paying the bribes, and later instructed the informant on how to present the bribes, specifying that the payments should be in cash only, according to the affidavit.