A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former Commerce City Manager Edgar Cisneros to two years' probation and ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine for his part in a wide-ranging cannabis bribery scheme that has swept up elected officials from across Southern California over the past five years.
Cisneros, while working as a consultant to a cannabis company, funneled at least $45,000 in bribes to former Baldwin Park Councilman Ricardo Pacheco in an attempt the secure a permit in Baldwin Park for his client. In exchange, the company promised to pay Cisneros $175,000 once the permit was acquired, according to his plea agreement.
To conceal the bribes, Cisneros' consulting firm, ViceVale, entered into a sham agreement with a marketing company run by Gabriel Chavez, a former San Bernardino County planning commissioner who served as an intermediary between Pacheco and those looking to buy his votes.
The former Commerce city manager, who resigned in November 2023 just days after he secretly pleaded guilty to the bribery charge, told investigators that while he never knew "with absolute certainty" that Chavez was splitting money with Pacheco, he suspected it and "deliberately avoided learning the truth."
Read more at The Orange County Register