RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A former Southern California city councilman has pleaded guilty to taking a $2.3 million bribe from an undercover FBI operative.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise (https://bit.ly/1fwg3Ai ) reports that ex-Moreno Valley Councilman Marcelo Co entered the plea for accepting the bribe that federal authorities said was among the biggest ever taken by a public official in an undercover sting. He also pleaded guilty Monday to a separate count of filing a false tax return.
Co, who resigned last year, had agreed in November to enter the pleas under a widespread corruption investigation in Riverside County.
He could get 13 years in prison at his July sentencing
The FBI operative posed as a real estate broker looking for a favorable land-use decision, and co promised he could control a majority of the council.
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Information from: The Press-Enterprise, https://www.pe.com
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