Terrigno Begins Serving 60-Day Embezzlement Term

Valerie Terrigno, the first mayor of West Hollywood and the first openly homosexual mayor of a U.S. city, has begun serving a 60-day sentence for embezzling public funds.

Terrigno reported to a Los Angeles halfway house for federal prisoners Wednesday, Kathie Duncan, program manager of the Sun West Community Treatment Center, said Thursday.

Most of the 35 male and female residents are federal inmates nearing parole, she said. Although residents are not locked up, Duncan said they must report their movements to the center.

Terrigno, elected mayor of West Hollywood when that city was incorporated in November, 1984, was sentenced in April by U.S. District Judge Laughlin Waters, who also ordered her to do 1,000 hours of community service during her probation and repay $6,800. She was convicted in March of embezzling the federal funds from 1983 to 1984 while serving as director of the Crossroads Counseling Center.