Moriarty Gets 7 Years in Fraud, Bribery Case

W. Patrick Moriarty, the central figure in California’s biggest political corruption scandal in 30 years, was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday by a Los Angeles federal judge on charges of money-laundering, fraud and bribery of public officials.

Losing his composure for the first time in more than a year of courtroom appearances, Moriarty listened with ashen face and grim anger as U.S. District Judge William J. Rea denounced him as a man whose greed had “tainted” the political system and led to his own eventual downfall.

“This appears to be part of an ongoing problem of political corruption,” Rea said, as Moriarty, 54, stood silently before him awaiting his sentence. “We are in an age of declining trust in public officials. . . . There are legitimate avenues for affecting legislation besides bribery.”

The sentencing was described by prosecutors as a major plateau in a continuing investigation that already has seen 10 indictments of bankers, public officials and Moriarty associates. The probe now is focused on the Legislature.

Watching as the once-powerful political manipulator and millionaire businessman heard his lawyer’s pleas for leniency rejected by the judge were Moriarty’s wife, Doreen, their six children and a large group of friends and supporters that included Moriarty’s Catholic parish priest in La Mirada, Msgr. Matthew Marron.

Doreen Moriarty tightly clutched the priest’s hand as he sat next to her throughout the courtroom proceeding. Nearby, one of Moriarty’s four daughters wept softly.

“You are fortunate to have a loving family,” Rea told the former fireworks magnate as he stood silently before him. “They are here this morning and they are here because of your misdeeds.

“You have committed a crime for which you must be punished. The court recognizes that the defendant and his family have suffered humiliation. However, he is the author of his own problems.”

Because of Moriarty’s continuing role as a government informant in the ongoing investigation of state officials and others linked to past bribe-taking activities, Rea gave Moriarty a seven-week grace period until March 24 before he must begin serving his sentence.

As part of his sentence, Moriarty was ordered to pay the government $3.4 million, his profit in the California Commerce Club scheme that led to his original indictment. Pending the outcome of involuntary bankruptcy proceedings against Moriarty, however, there was no indication when that sum might actually be paid.

Low-Security Prison

The judge also agreed to recommend to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons that Moriarty be assigned to the low-security honor camp at Lompoc Federal Prison. Technically, he is eligible for parole consideration after two years and four months, a third of his sentence. Parole guidelines, however, recommend at least another year of custody.

Visibly shaken by the sentence, Moriarty suddenly announced plans to break the policy of silence he has adopted since his November, 1984, indictment in connection with the City of Commerce corruption case revolving around the licensing of the poker club.

“I think I’ll call a press conference and tell my story like I should have done for 10 months,” he said, referring to the time span since he entered his guilty pleas last March and began cooperating with government investigators.

With that, Moriarty stalked angrily out of the courtroom. After a brief meeting with his lawyer, Jan Lawrence Handzlik, the idea of a press conference was dropped and Moriarty had only a few brief comments as he finally slipped out of the U.S. Courthouse.

‘I Have Been Truthful’

“I was extremely disappointed,” Moriarty said, his voice quivering as he was again surrounded by reporters. “I have been very candid and truthful--nothing less than that.”

While the sentence imposed on Moriarty was not as lengthy as some recent sentences of 10 and 15 years in other high-profile white-collar criminal cases in Los Angeles, it was described as a “stiff” sentence by Handzlik, and prosecutors called it an appropriate punishment in light of the “valuable” information Moriarty has already provided as a cooperating government witness.

“We are very pleased with the sentence,” said U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner. “It should send a strong message to Sacramento and those who deal with politics and politicians--corruption will be severely dealt with.”

Prosecutors Disagreed

The seven-year sentence had been proposed to Rea by Chief Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard E. Drooyan, who revealed there was a heated discussion among prosecutors themselves about the proper punishment for Moriarty. “I have never been a part of a sentencing decision so carefully considered,” Drooyan said. “We reviewed all the evidence in this case. We argued this out. We threshed this out.”

In accepting the government’s ultimate sentencing proposal, Rea rejected a counterproposal by Handzlik that would have imposed a sentence of a year and one day, combined with 6,000 hours of community work, during a follow-up five-year probation period.

Handzlik said the staggering total of community service hours--more than twice the total ever imposed on a probationer by a Los Angeles federal judge--worked out to about 21 hours a week of community service work over the five-year period.

Hours of Cooperation

Citing the “hundreds of hours” that Moriarty has spent cooperating with government investigators since pleading guilty himself to corruption charges, Handzlik said Moriarty was clearly a man who had shown he was genuinely sorry for his past acts.

“His actions give life and meaning to the word remorse,” said Handzlik. “We have proposed what I believe to be an extraordinary amount of community service--6,000 hours--and that figure, your honor, came from Mr. Moriarty.”

Noting that Moriarty was on the board of directors of the Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles, Handzlik said one activity ideal for Moriarty instead of prison would be to work as a “full-time unpaid employee of the Big Brothers.”

Handzlik also told the judge that the Rev. Joe B. Hardwick of Praises of Zion Baptist Church in South-Central Los Angeles had written a letter suggesting that Moriarty might work with him in developing a housing complex for senior citizens planned by Hardwick’s church.

Not Punishment Enough

Rejecting those proposals, Rea made it clear he did not think community service with the Big Brothers or Rev. Hardwick’s church was proper punishment for Moriarty. Accepting the recommendation of the prosecution team instead, the judge commented:

“The sentence is intended to reflect the egregious nature of the offenses and convey the message of intolerance of the crimes committed.”

More Indictments

Handzlik later said Moriarty will continue to cooperate as a government witness despite his anger over the seven-year sentence. The continuing investigation is expected to produce several more indictments of political figures in the coming months.

“He made a deal,” Handzlik said. “He has a history of honoring his commitments.”

Moriarty had pleaded guilty to the seven counts of mail fraud on March 12, 1985.

The surprise plea came during the fifth day of testimony in the Los Angeles federal court trial of Moriarty and Las Vegas gambling figure Frank J. Sansone in connection with a scheme to give secret shares of the poker parlor to four City of Commerce officials in return for their granting a license for the gambling club.

Four Others Sentenced

The four city officials, including former Councilmen Robert Eula, Arthur Loya, Richard Vasquez and former economic development director Phil Jacks, received between three and ten months imprisonment.

Sansone, who stood trial alone after Moriarty’s plea, received six months in a federal prison at Boron, Calif.

Three of the mail fraud counts on which Moriarty was sentenced Friday involved giving secret shares in the California Commerce Club to the city officials.

The remaining four counts charged Moriarty with making illegal contributions to politicians and with paying kickbacks to a bank official.

With Moriarty’s plea and a promise to cooperate with FBI and Orange County district attorney investigators, the focus of the probe shifted from the City of Commerce to Sacramento, where Moriarty had allegedly offered favors, including profitable business deals and prostitutes, to a number of lawmakers in return for their support of pro-fireworks legislation that would have allowed Moriarty’s company, Pyrotronics Inc., to sell so-called “safe-and-sane” (non-explosive) fireworks in cities throughout California.

Vetoed by Governor

Moriarty’s fireworks bill, which in effect would have taken away local authority to ban the sale of non-explosive fireworks, narrowly passed both houses of the Legislature. It was vetoed by then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 1982.

Before and just after the passage of the fireworks bill, Moriarty and his associates contributed more than $130,000 to dozens of legislators, most of whom supported the Orange County businessman’s proposal.

At the height of his power between 1980 and 1983, Moriarty and his associates contributed nearly $600,000 to politicians in California, about half of it illegally laundered through others, according to friends, employees and business associates.

Teams of investigators have periodically appeared in Sacramento to interview lawmakers about their relationships with Moriarty. As late as last week FBI agents and investigators from Orange County interviewed several state senators in the Capitol, according to sources in Sacramento.

The investigation into political corruption surrounding the Moriarty affair, according to other sources, will continue even though Moriarty has been sentenced.

Altogether, 10 individuals, including Moriarty and the Commerce officials, have been indicted, pleaded guilty or been convicted of felonies since the investigation began. One banker was acquitted.

It has been 30 years since a serious scandal has touched the California Legislature. The issue then was bribes paid to lawmakers for liquor licenses. Ultimately, lobbyist Arthur Samish, known as the “secret boss of California,” and at least nine other people, including two assemblymen, went to prison, paid fines, or left the country. One committed suicide.

Times staff writers George Frank and Tracy Wood contributed to this story.