Lynwood, Calif., City Council Members Convicted

Two former Lynwood, Calif., City Council members have been convicted of corruption for illegal use of public funds.

Louis Byrd and Fernando Pedroza were found guilty of misusing public money after prosecutors argued the pair broke the law by accepting tens of thousands of dollars for sitting on city commissions, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Prosecutors said the two, who made less than $10,000 a year as council members, increased their salaries by as much as $112,000 in one year for Byrd and $72,000 for Pedroza while doing little work on the commission, according to the Times.

In one of the allegations of the misuse of city money made by prosecutors, Pedroza and the city manager at the time charged the city for a $1,500 bill from a strip club where dancers allegedly performed sexual favors, according to the newspaper.

Lynwood, a city of 69,000 in Los Angeles County, was thrust into the spotlight after Byrd, Pedroza, and three other former council members were charged in 2007 with corruption.

One member pleaded guilty to grand theft and testified against the others, but a judge eventually dismissed charges against them, ruling the statute of limitation had expired, according to the Times.

Attorneys for Pedroza and Byrd vowed appeals, the Times reported.

The newspaper reported that Los Angeles County district attorneys are expected to make the same argument used to convict the two Lynwood council members against officials in nearby Bell who are also accused of misusing public funds.

Bell, of Los Angeles County, was thrust into the spotlight in the summer of 2010 by reports in the Los Angeles Times that it was paying its manager at the time, Robert Rizzo, a salary of $800,000 a year.
The fallout since then has included civil and criminal charges against Rizzo, four City Council members and other members of Bell's management team.

They are accused of misappropriating millions of dollars from the city, which has a population of about 40,000.

Bell's City Council and city management have since been replaced.

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