The US Justice Department announced on the 18th that former Compton City Councilman Isaac Jacob Galvan and Arcadia Chinese man Yichang Bai (transliteration) were suspected of bribery.ballBaldwin Park City Councilor ReceivesmarijuanaAccused of 10 crimes including production and operating rights, bribery.
Gavin, 36, served as a Compton City Councilman from 2013 to 2022. He was arrested at his residence on September 18. FBI and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigators also arrested Bai Yichang on the 18th. Bai Yichang runs an import and export trading company called W&F International Corp. in Diamond Bar City. The indictment reveals that Gavin helped Bai Yichang bribe former Baldwin Park City Councilman Ricardo Pacheco. Both men were charged with ten counts each, including eight counts of bribery, conspiracy and honest services wire fraud. If convicted on all 10 counts, Gavin and Bai Yichang face up to 35 years in prison.
The lawsuit says the city of Baldwin Park has allowed the cultivation, manufacturing and sale of marijuana since 2017. Then-City Councilman Pachek demanded bribes from businesses applying for marijuana licenses in exchange for his supporting votes on City Council review.
Gavin paid Pacheck 10,000 yuan in August 2017 to support Bai Yichang’s application for cannabis business qualification. Later, Gavin paid Pacheek 70,000 yuan. Pachek served as a Baldwin Park City Council member from 1997 until his resignation in June 2020. In 2018, Pachek served as the city’s deputy mayor. After receiving a total of 80,000 yuan in bribes, Pachek voted in favor of Bai Yichang’s marijuana application in parliament, and later voted in favor of Bai Yichang’s request to relocate the marijuana factory.
To conceal the bribery, Bai Yichang collected information from third parties.check, and leave the Payee column blank. Gavin gave the checks to Pachek, who cashed them in his own name or in someone else’s name.
W&F International, the company that Bai Yichang was able to operate the marijuana business in Baldwin Park through bribes, has also been facing problems recently. According to a 2020 report by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the company owed $575,000 to the Baldwin Park City Council and its cannabis plant in El Monte had not completed amendments as required. Los Angeles County government failed health and fire assessments. A surprise inspection of a marijuana factory by the El Monte Police Department found that the factory had begun growing marijuana without complete documentation.
This is not the first time Pachek has been implicated in a bribery case. He had pleaded guilty to a bribery case in June 2020. At the time, he had received thousands of dollars in bribes, including $2,000 in cash from a Baldwin Park Police Department officer in exchange for support from the Baldwin Park police union in contract negotiations with the city. Pachek’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 17, 2024.
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