FBI agents raided the offices of Baldwin Park City Attorney Robert Tafoya and the homes of Compton Councilman Isaac Galvan and San Bernardino County Planning Commissioner Gabriel Chavez last week as part of a cannabis-related corruption probe, authorities have confirmed.
In a statement, an attorney representing Tafoya said a search warrant was executed related to his client on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Mark Werksman declined to address the specifics of the federal investigation, except to say “Tafoya shares the federal government’s interest in rooting out corruption in the cannabis industry and prosecuting political corruption of any kind.”
“There is no place for that in our community,” Werksman said in an email.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller also confirmed the searches, but would not discuss specifics about the investigations because the warrants are sealed. Despite other news reports to the contrary, she said, the FBI did not arrest anyone.
The Baldwin Park City Council planned to discuss the raids at its meeting Wednesday night, Nov. 4, according to Councilwoman Monica Garcia.
Take allegations ‘very seriously’
“We’re just learning about these developments and, of course, we take allegations of corruption very seriously,” Garcia said. “I welcome the authorities to investigate and for truth to prevail.”
Tafoya’s wife works for the city of Compton as an administrative analyst, according to public records, but its unclear what the connection is, if any, between Galvan, Chavez and Tafoya, who also serves as general counsel of the Rialto-based West Valley Water District.
Galvan did not respond to requests for comment.
Planning commissioner ‘mystified’
In a telephone interview, Chavez, the San Bernardino County planning commissioner, said the raid caught him by surprise. He wasn’t home when it happened and he was unaware of what it was in regards to, he said.
“I am just as mystified as anyone else. I’m not even clear as to what’s going on. All this seems perplexing to me,” Chavez said.
Chavez said the only item FBI agents seized from his home was his laptop computer, and when he learned agents wanted his mobile phone, he drove to the FBI’s West Covina field office and turned it in.
“I didn’t take a hammer to it. I didn’t scrub or delete anything on my phone. I went and turned it in,” Chavez said.
As of Wednesday, he had not been interviewed by the FBI, he said.
Cannabis industry at root
A source familiar with the investigation told the Los Angeles Times that federal agents had been interviewing people about allegations that Baldwin Park officials requested illegal payments from cannabis businesses seeking permits in the city.
In September, Chris Kuberry, a former Baldwin Park police lieutenant who helped regulate the cannabis industry in Baldwin Park, filed a sworn declaration alleging he received complaints of corruption from the operators of three cannabis businesses.
“Each of the business owners complained of difficulties and questionable business practices, which included paying as much as $250,000 cash in a brown paper bag to city officials,” Kuberry wrote in the declaration, which was obtained by the Southern California News Group.
Kuberry’s declaration was filed to support a motion to dismiss Baldwin Park’s lawsuit against Steve McLean, the city’s former police chief. McLean accused city officials, particularly Mayor Manny Lozano, of corruption during a public meeting. The city subsequently sued McLean, alleging he abandoned his post and filed false claims against the city.
Lozano, who lost Tuesday’s election for mayor after 20 years in office, said in an interview that he is not part of the FBI’s investigation and his home was not searched. The allegations from past police chiefs do not involve him, he said.
“I have no direct link to either the lawsuits, or the FBI, but when you’re the mayor, you’re the figurehead of the city and that’s who they’ll target,” he said of critics attempting to link him to the investigation. “At the end of the day, I have a clear conscience that I have a very pronounced trajectory of planning and achieving major milestones for the city of Baldwin Park when you compare us to when I first came in and where we are right now.”
Four other officers, including Kuberry, filed government claims also alleging corruption. Baldwin Park has a high turnover rate for police chiefs, going through eight of them in seven years.
McLean’s attorney, Brad Gage, declined to comment on the federal investigation.
“There is a lot going on,” Gage said. “Whatever the FBI is doing, I don’t believe I am allowed to comment one way or another, nor could my client.”
Baldwin Park’s efforts to allow and regulate cannabis businesses has been a controversial topic.
A lawsuit filed in 2018 accused Baldwin Park of creating a monopoly by requiring all cannabis businesses to use one company, Rukli Inc., to transport their marijuana. The lawsuit accused Rukli and one of its consultants of bribery for giving a total of $8,800 to Councilwoman Garcia’s campaign for state Senate the day after the council agreed to give the company exclusive distribution rights.
Garcia previously called the “innuendos and allegations” over the donations “politically motivated.” She said she made her decisions based on the best interests of the community.
The city ultimately won the case and the lawsuit was thrown out. A trial court and an appellate court agreed the payment to Garcia’s campaign did not demonstrate a quid pro quo arrangement, according to the appellate court’s ruling.
In a statement, an attorney representing Tafoya said a search warrant was executed related to his client on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Mark Werksman declined to address the specifics of the federal investigation, except to say “Tafoya shares the federal government’s interest in rooting out corruption in the cannabis industry and prosecuting political corruption of any kind.”
“There is no place for that in our community,” Werksman said in an email.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller also confirmed the searches, but would not discuss specifics about the investigations because the warrants are sealed. Despite other news reports to the contrary, she said, the FBI did not arrest anyone.
The Baldwin Park City Council planned to discuss the raids at its meeting Wednesday night, Nov. 4, according to Councilwoman Monica Garcia.
Take allegations ‘very seriously’
“We’re just learning about these developments and, of course, we take allegations of corruption very seriously,” Garcia said. “I welcome the authorities to investigate and for truth to prevail.”
Tafoya’s wife works for the city of Compton as an administrative analyst, according to public records, but its unclear what the connection is, if any, between Galvan, Chavez and Tafoya, who also serves as general counsel of the Rialto-based West Valley Water District.
Galvan did not respond to requests for comment.
Planning commissioner ‘mystified’
In a telephone interview, Chavez, the San Bernardino County planning commissioner, said the raid caught him by surprise. He wasn’t home when it happened and he was unaware of what it was in regards to, he said.
“I am just as mystified as anyone else. I’m not even clear as to what’s going on. All this seems perplexing to me,” Chavez said.
Chavez said the only item FBI agents seized from his home was his laptop computer, and when he learned agents wanted his mobile phone, he drove to the FBI’s West Covina field office and turned it in.
“I didn’t take a hammer to it. I didn’t scrub or delete anything on my phone. I went and turned it in,” Chavez said.
As of Wednesday, he had not been interviewed by the FBI, he said.
Cannabis industry at root
A source familiar with the investigation told the Los Angeles Times that federal agents had been interviewing people about allegations that Baldwin Park officials requested illegal payments from cannabis businesses seeking permits in the city.
In September, Chris Kuberry, a former Baldwin Park police lieutenant who helped regulate the cannabis industry in Baldwin Park, filed a sworn declaration alleging he received complaints of corruption from the operators of three cannabis businesses.
“Each of the business owners complained of difficulties and questionable business practices, which included paying as much as $250,000 cash in a brown paper bag to city officials,” Kuberry wrote in the declaration, which was obtained by the Southern California News Group.
Kuberry’s declaration was filed to support a motion to dismiss Baldwin Park’s lawsuit against Steve McLean, the city’s former police chief. McLean accused city officials, particularly Mayor Manny Lozano, of corruption during a public meeting. The city subsequently sued McLean, alleging he abandoned his post and filed false claims against the city.
Lozano, who lost Tuesday’s election for mayor after 20 years in office, said in an interview that he is not part of the FBI’s investigation and his home was not searched. The allegations from past police chiefs do not involve him, he said.
“I have no direct link to either the lawsuits, or the FBI, but when you’re the mayor, you’re the figurehead of the city and that’s who they’ll target,” he said of critics attempting to link him to the investigation. “At the end of the day, I have a clear conscience that I have a very pronounced trajectory of planning and achieving major milestones for the city of Baldwin Park when you compare us to when I first came in and where we are right now.”
Four other officers, including Kuberry, filed government claims also alleging corruption. Baldwin Park has a high turnover rate for police chiefs, going through eight of them in seven years.
McLean’s attorney, Brad Gage, declined to comment on the federal investigation.
“There is a lot going on,” Gage said. “Whatever the FBI is doing, I don’t believe I am allowed to comment one way or another, nor could my client.”
Baldwin Park’s efforts to allow and regulate cannabis businesses has been a controversial topic.
A lawsuit filed in 2018 accused Baldwin Park of creating a monopoly by requiring all cannabis businesses to use one company, Rukli Inc., to transport their marijuana. The lawsuit accused Rukli and one of its consultants of bribery for giving a total of $8,800 to Councilwoman Garcia’s campaign for state Senate the day after the council agreed to give the company exclusive distribution rights.
Garcia previously called the “innuendos and allegations” over the donations “politically motivated.” She said she made her decisions based on the best interests of the community.
The city ultimately won the case and the lawsuit was thrown out. A trial court and an appellate court agreed the payment to Garcia’s campaign did not demonstrate a quid pro quo arrangement, according to the appellate court’s ruling.
