Official Fined $15,000 for Election Fraud

Compton City Councilman Floyd A. James drew a hefty $15,000 fine for election fraud Tuesday and was put on three years’ probation. He was allowed to keep his public post after a judge backed off a threat to oust him for allegedly intimidating a witness.

Superior Court Judge Aurelio Munoz also ordered the councilman, a 10-year public official who turns 47 today, to serve 80 hours of community service by working with the California Department of Transportation, picking up trash “out on the freeway.”

“It’s a stiff sentence, but we can live with it,” said James’ attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. “There’s been a lot of brouhaha, but hopefully that’s behind us.”

James pleaded no contest in January to a relatively minor violation of campaign mailing laws involving a notice sent to voters during his bitter 1985 reelection campaign. A co-defendant, Inglewood political consultant Roderick Wright, had entered a similar plea and was placed on probation under misdemeanor statutes.

Prosecutors dropped the other charges, one of which accused the men of trying to buy votes through a scheme to give record albums, featuring a speech by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, to anyone who pledged support.

Nuisance Citation

When Munoz learned that James’ fellow council members had filed a public nuisance citation against a prosecution witness, however, the judge told lawyers that he considered it intimidation. He threatened to charge James with a felony--disqualifying him from public office under California law--unless the council action was reversed.

Angry council members--with James abstaining but in agreement--responded by filing an ethics complaint, accusing Munoz of trying to usurp their authority. On May 20, the Commission on Judicial Performance ruled that the complaint was insufficient to warrant discipline against the judge.

On Tuesday, a solemn James told Munoz that “there was never any attempt on my part to intimidate” either the witness or the judge.

James, described by Cochran as “a family man” willing to accept responsibility for the illegal mailer even though his campaign consultant was “calling the shots,” said he respects Munoz for being concerned about the witness, Francesca Houpe.

Shortly after Houpe testified against James at a preliminary hearing, the 34-year-old divorced mother of two was arrested on suspicion of growing three marijuana plants in her backyard. Houpe denied knowing anything about the plants, and the district attorney’s office declined to charge her because of insufficient evidence.

Police said they made the arrest on a tip from James. The councilman acknowledged having passed on word from an informant who sought anonymity. The informant--a contributor to James’ campaign and holder of a city job training contract--eventually came forward but declined to take a lie detector test requested by prosecutors.

Council members declared Houpe’s home a nuisance in January. If another complaint is lodged against her, they warned, the city will sue to have the property condemned.

“I would like to apologize for my (City Council) colleagues and myself,” James told the judge. The councilman said that in Compton, where “people are close,” issues can quickly turn emotional and get “out of proportion.”

Cochran, who once considered asking Munoz to disqualify himself as being prejudiced against James, added his apology “for the extraneous things” that “clouded” the election fraud case.

Afterwards, a smiling Cochran said he would not appeal the sentence, satisfied that James had avoided the threatened felony.