Fraud, Extortion Trial of Carson Councilman Egan Goes to Jury

Carson City Councilman Walter (Jake) Egan was just doing his job in the dogfight atmosphere of local politics when he met and advised convicted political fixer W. Patrick Moriarty on the businessman’s plans for a multimillion-dollar mobile home project, Egan’s lawyer argued Wednesday.

While admitting that the government had made a “very strong circumstantial case” in attempting to prove the councilman guilty of 10 counts of mail fraud and two counts of extortion, defense attorney Robert Gaunt insisted that prosecutors had failed to establish any criminal intent on Egan’s part.

The trial of the feisty Egan, a member of the City Council since 1980, went to the jury in Los Angeles federal court Wednesday afternoon with the prosecutors contending that Egan had deprived Carson voters of fair and honest government in his dealings with Moriarty.

Moriarty, now serving a seven-year federal prison sentence for mail fraud in connection with corruption of elected officials throughout the state, testified June 25 that Egan shook him down for about $30,000 to support the aborted Casa Del Amo mobile home project to be built on a landfill site.

‘Shakedown Artist’

The former Orange County fireworks magnate characterized Egan as an aggressive “shakedown artist” who promised to support the mobile home project and deal with the city’s staff objections in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in concealed political contributions.

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Maurice L. Evans, serving as a member of the federal prosecution team, charged in final arguments that Egan tried to control Carson politics through Moriarty’s illegal contributions, concealed through three political action committees, ostensibly headed by others.

Evans charged that Egan solicited funds from Moriarty, and that one of Moriarty’s associates, Richard Raymond Keith, funneled the money to the committees and used it to enhance his power base without reporting the contributions to the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Credibility Attacked

Defense attorney Gaunt, challenged the credibility of the testimony given by Moriarty and by Keith, who also is serving a federal prison sentence. Both of the prosecution’s witnesses were “super salesmen” intent on getting early parole dates, he said.

Gaunt described Carson City Council politics as “about five parts dogfight.” And, he said that if a council member does not engage in “schemes and plots” nothing would ever get done in Carson’s charged atomsphere.

His client is now in a “desperate situation,” according to Gaunt, because Egan is being asked to recall and explain 5-year-old events. He insisted that Egan was not in control of Moriarty’s secret contributions and that his “only offense” was dealing with Moriarty.

So far, a statewide probe of Moriarty’s political machinations has resulted in the indictment of 11 defendants, including Egan.