Former California councilman’s corruption unmasked after FBI finds cash buried in backyard
Former Baldwin Park city councilman Ricardo Pacheco has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after admitting to taking bribes in exchange for political support and city permits, including nearly $63,000 in cash he buried in his back garden. Pacheco, 63, served more than two decades on the council before resigning in 2020 as part of a plea deal, and prosecutors say he used his position to solicit payments tied to a police-union contract and commercial marijuana permits. Co-defendant Isaac Jacob Galvan, a former Compton city councilman, received the same sentence for his role in the scheme, which federal prosecutors say formed part of a wider pattern of corruption among elected officials in the region.
Pacheco was fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit $219,755, while the FBI recovered $83,145 in cash proceeds from him, including $62,900 unearthed from two spots in his back garden. He had solicited $37,900 from a police officer, who was secretly working with the FBI, to back a Baldwin Park Police Association contract worth at least $4.4 million, and later took a $20,000 cash bribe at a coffee shop caught on video, which led him to become an FBI informant. Galvan was ordered to pay $323,557 in restitution and had helped broker $70,000 in bribes from a business owner seeking a marijuana permit, part of a broader pay-to-play scheme that the Los Angeles Times reported led to six indictments involving more than 20 people.
- Ex-councilman Ricardo Pacheco jailed 18 months for bribery scheme
- FBI dug up nearly $63,000 he'd buried in his backyard
- Bribes involved police-union contract and marijuana permits; co-defendant also sentenced
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Ricardo Pacheco spent more than 20 years on Baldwin Park's city council before quitting in 2020 under a plea deal. Baldwin Park is a small city near Los Angeles, and Pacheco was one of its elected officials, responsible for decisions such as awarding permits and approving contracts. Isaac Jacob Galvan served in a similar role on the nearby Compton city council.
Both men admitted to taking bribes from people who wanted favourable treatment from the city, such as a police union seeking a contract and a business owner seeking a permit to sell cannabis. Investigators say Pacheco hid tens of thousands of dollars in cash from these bribes by burying it in his back garden, and part of the case relied on a police officer who was secretly cooperating with the FBI.
The case matters because it involves public officials allegedly using their positions for personal gain rather than serving the communities that elected them, and it forms part of a larger federal investigation into corruption among local politicians in the Los Angeles area, which has led to charges against numerous other people.