Ex-Trustee at Compton College Held

A former Compton College trustee has been charged with defrauding the college of more than $1 million in a scheme in which he allegedly diverted public funds to himself and family members, prosecutors said Thursday.

Ignacio Pena, who was an elected board member from 1991 to 2003, allegedly set up a shell organization to enroll members of a community soccer league in college courses. Though the program received college funds, its courses were never taught, according to the charges.

Pena’s wife, Bertha Bayardo Pena, was arrested for allegedly aiding her husband in the ploy.

His arraignment Thursday came as the community college, facing long-standing allegations of financial and administrative abuses, was struggling to keep its accreditation and remain open. The 6,600-student campus was taken over by the state last year, and the powers of its elected board were stripped.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney, said Pena’s alleged crime represented a betrayal of public trust. “When people steal from the public, that’s about as serious as you can get as far as we’re concerned ... and a million dollars is a lot of money.”

Even worse, Gibbons said, Pena’s alleged theft occurred at a struggling college that serves mainly low-income students.

“That money could go a long way toward helping the people, the college and the community,” Gibbons said. “You can’t go into a poor area and use it as your personal piggy bank; that’s just wrong.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman said “much of the money seems to have gone to purchasing a house in Guadalajara.”

Many of the details of the alleged fraud were publicly revealed by a Times article in August 2003.

Pena, 46, was arrested Tuesday at his house in Paramount.

At his arraignment in the Compton courthouse, Pena stood silently in a blue, county jail jumpsuit, his hands cuffed and his gray-streaked hair tousled. His wife, 42, is scheduled to appear in court today.

Pena had asked to be released on his own recognizance, but Superior Court Commissioner Ronald Slick upheld his bail at $1.1 million. If convicted, Pena faces up to 11 years and eight months in state prison, and his wife faces more than four years.

The charges against Pena center on Familias en Progreso, a program that held a contract with Compton College from 1999 to 2002.

According to its contract, the organization was to help the college run a community sports program for which participants would get college credit. By boosting enrollment, the college would gain attendance-based state funds.

The Times investigation in 2003 found that 40 checks, totaling $868,000, were paid to Familias en Progreso from 1998 to 2002. Some were addressed to an Inglewood residence, where the longtime owner of the house said he had never heard of Familias or even Compton College.

Pena then told The Times he knew little about the program.

College documents listed the director of Familias en Progreso as Roberto Bayardo. He is the father of Bertha Pena. On Thursday, prosecutor Huntsman said the alleged ruse involved Bertha Pena’s father but that he has not been located and could be in Mexico.

When interviewed by The Times in 2003, Pena first said he did not know Roberto Bayardo well.

Later, Pena said two men named Roberto Bayardo worked for Familias en Progreso. The director, Pena said, was a younger man by that name. Pena’s father-in-law, a retired physician, taught in the program but was not its director, Pena said.

When asked why he earlier said he did not know Bayardo well, Pena told a reporter: “You said Mr. Bayardo. Dr. Bayardo is my father-in-law.”

Letters from Familias en Progreso to the college, however, were signed by Dr. Roberto Bayardo, cited as the program’s director.

One such letter -- dated July 2, 2001 -- informed the college that Guadalupe Espitia, a part-time worker with the program, would pick up checks for the group.

Espitia said in a 2003 Times interview that she knew of only one Roberto Bayardo, who is Pena’s father-in-law. Espitia said she met Bayardo two or three times and was told by Pena that Bayardo lived in Guadalajara.

In addition to the Familias charges, Pena allegedly bought personal items with college credit cards.

On campus, opinion was divided Thursday on whether Pena’s arrest would help or harm the school’s effort to keep its accreditation.

The Western Assn. for Schools and Colleges, the nongovernmental body that credentials all colleges and universities in California, in June threatened to strip Compton of its accreditation by Aug. 19, citing the school’s slow progress toward addressing its financial and governance problems.

Loss of accreditation would render Compton ineligible for state funding, and its students would no longer have access to federal financial aid. State officials have filed a request for a review of the commission’s ruling.

“I’m not relishing the fact that another public official has been arrested for cheating the public; it saddens me,” said Gerald Burgess, the board president, who defeated Pena in 2003 for the seat from Paramount.

On the other hand, he said, the charges were vindication that “the district deserved to have leadership that served with integrity and served without seeking personal gain.”

Lorraine Cervantes, a board member from Compton, said the panel’s behavior has improved since Pena left office.

Cervantes said she hoped accreditors realized that past board members such as Pena “are the reason for the situation that the college is in.”

Kent Swift, a board member elected from Lynwood, agreed.

“We’ve all been wiped by the same brush by these allegations,” he said. “I hope that it will bring some closure to the allegations against the entire board.”

Cheryl Fong, a spokeswoman for California Community Colleges, said Chancellor Mark Drummond’s office was told of the district attorney’s investigation of Pena in April 2004, and it turned over relevant documents and records.

Drummond declined to comment on the case Thursday, according to another spokesman.

Art Tyler, the state’s special trustee over the college, also declined to discuss the allegations against Pena.

Pena is charged with three counts of felony conflict of interest, three counts of felony crime of a public officer and one count of grand theft, with the special allegation that the crimes exceeded $1 million.

Bertha Bayardo Pena is charged with one count of grand theft and one count of crime of a public officer.

She was arrested Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport as she returned from Mexico, Huntsman said.

She assisted in the scheme by submitting fraudulent invoices for books that were never bought, prosecutors said.

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report.