Carson Councilman Convicted of Fraud

Carson City Councilman Walter J. (Jake) Egan was found guilty Friday on a dozen counts of fraud and extortion in connection with a continuing federal probe of California politicians formerly associated with convicted public corruption figure W. Patrick Moriarty.

A federal jury in Los Angeles reached its decision after a two-week trial highlighted by Moriarty’s testimony for the prosecution that Egan was a “shakedown artist” who had extorted money in exchange for supporting a plan to build a mobile home park at the site of a former Carson landfill.

Egan, 45, was accused of receiving $20,000 in contributions from Moriarty for a political action committee he set up in 1981, and taking another $12,000 to $20,000 in cash payments from Richard Keith, a former Moriarty associate now serving a four-year prison term.

The two-term councilman, first elected in 1980, was the 11th defendant indicted and the fifth elected public official convicted of corruption charges since the start of the Moriarty probe nearly three years ago.

The testimony of Moriarty, cooperating with the government in an effort to reduce his own seven-year prison sentence on corruption charges, was cited by both jurors and prosecutors as an important factor in Egan’s conviction.

“The jury in this case obviously believed his testimony,” said Chief U.S. Atty. Richard E. Drooyan, who led the prosecution team. “That in itself says something about his credibility.”

Drooyan, working with Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Maurice L. Evans in the continuing federal and county Moriarty probe, said after the verdict that the investigation is expected to continue for “several” more months.

“I don’t know how many more indictments to expect,” Drooyan said. “At this stage there have been no decisions made on any additional actions. The next step is to sit down and see where we are.

“There are things we are ready to decide on in the near future,” Drooyan added. “Other decisions may be further off.”

Egan faces automatic removal from office and a possible prison term at his scheduled sentencing Sept. 8 by U.S. District Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez. The maximum possible sentence he could receive is 90 years, but sentences for other defendants in related Moriarty cases have ranged from four months to the seven years imposed on Moriarty.

Maintained Innocence

Accepting the verdict calmly and maintaining his innocence, Egan told reporters: “I felt from the beginning that there was nothing wrong with what I did, and I still feel there is nothing wrong.”

He later met with Carson City Atty. Glenn Watson to discuss his status as a councilman. Watson said he told Egan that he remains a councilman until sentencing and said Egan did not offer to resign.

The government charged that Egan had met with Moriarty and Keith to solicit funds to “enhance his own political position in Carson,” agreeing to support Moriarty’s planned Caso del Amo mobile home project in exchange for illegal political contributions.

Taking the witness stand in his own defense, Egan testified that he had never received any cash payments from Keith or had any knowledge of any illegal activities. In describing his support for the mobile home project, he said, “I was simply a man who was ahead of my time.”

Egan’s lawyer, Robert Gaunt, unsuccessfully argued that the prosecution had failed to establish any criminal intent by Egan, although he conceded that the government had a “very strong circumstantial case.”

Gaunt said in closing arguments that Carson City Council politics was “about five parts dogfight,” and that little would be accomplished in the city if council members did not engage in “schemes and plots.”

Times staff writer George Stein contributed to this story.