Cudahy City Council Member To Plead Guilty

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A former Cudahy City Council member has agreed to
plead guilty to federal extortion and bribery charges, the U.S. Attorney's
Office announced today, making him the third ex-Cudahy official to reach a plea agreement in connection with a corruption probe.

Osvaldo Conde, 50, who resigned his council seat in the aftermath of his
arrest, is expected to appear in federal court in downtown Los Angeles
tomorrow, although he is not expected to enter his guilty plea until later.
Former Cudahy Mayor David Silva and former City Manager Angel Perales are also due in court tomorrow.

Silva and Perales have also agreed to plead guilty to extortion and
bribery. During tomorrow's hearing, the case against all three former officials
is expected to be assigned to a judge, who will accept their anticipated guilty
pleas at a later date, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Silva, Perales and Conde were charged in a criminal complaint unsealed
last month, accusing them of demanding and accepting a total of $17,000 in
bribes to approve the opening of a marijuana dispensary in Cudahy, Assistant
U.S. Attorney Joseph N. Akrotirianakis said.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the charges, the three men
took the cash from a marijuana dispensary owner, who was working as an FBI
informant.

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.

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