Former California councilman's corruption unmasked after FBI finds cash buried in backyard

A former California councilman who admitted burying nearly $63,000 in cash in his backyard was sentenced Friday to 18 months in federal prison for taking bribes tied to a police-union contract and commercial marijuana permits, prosecutors said.

Ricardo Pacheco, 63, spent more than two decades on the Baldwin Park City Council before resigning in 2020 as part of his plea deal.

Federal prosecutors said he used his elected office to collect cash and funnel other payments through his church and political groups.

The Department of Justice said Pacheco and former Compton City Councilman Isaac Jacob Galvan carried out "corrupt acts while they were elected officials," including accepting and paying bribes for political support and city permits.

HAWAII'S DEMOCRATIC LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR INDICTED IN STATE CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION Pacheco was also fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit $219,755.

The FBI seized $83,145 in cash proceeds from him, including $62,900 that Pacheco said he had buried in two places in his backyard, prosecutors said.

A restitution hearing is still to be scheduled.

Galvan, 39, received the same 18-month federal prison sentence and was ordered to pay $323,557 in restitution.

FORMER GAMBINO ASSOCIATE TURNED NEW JERSEY COUNCILMAN ACCUSED OF RUNNING LOANSHARKING RING WHILE IN OFFICE The case began with the police-union deal.

Between January and October 2018, Pacheco solicited and received $37,900 from a Baldwin Park police officer in exchange for supporting the Baldwin Park Police Association’s contract with the city, prosecutors said.

The deal was worth at least $4.4 million over three years.

MASSACHUSETTS MAYOR CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD IN $1.5M COVID RELIEF SCHEME The officer was working at the FBI’s direction after he and another officer approached the bureau to assist in its corruption investigation, according to the DOJ.

In October 2018, the officer handed Pacheco a $20,000 cash bribe inside an envelope at a Baldwin Park coffee shop, prosecutors said.

Pacheco also directed $17,900 in checks to his church and political action committees that were set up in other people’s names but controlled by him, according to the DOJ.