2 Ex-Legislative Aides Guilty in Corruption Case : Politics: Convicted on all counts of extorting campaign contributions, consulting fees and cash from undercover FBI agents, they say they were victimized in a politically motivated investigation.

Adding to the tally of public officials snared in a Capitol sting operation, a federal jury convicted two former legislative aides Wednesday on political corruption charges.

Ex-aides Tyrone Netters and Darryl Freeman were found guilty on all counts for their roles in extorting campaign contributions, consulting fees and cash from undercover FBI agents, who were posing as out-of-state businessmen seeking special favors from the Legislature.

The two men face potentially lengthy prison terms when they are sentenced in January. Both say that they plan to appeal their convictions. They will remain free until sentencing.

The case took on special importance to the ongoing corruption probe that has already led to the convictions of two former state senators and guilty pleas from two other legislative aides.

That investigation received a sharp setback last month when a federal court of appeals reversed the conviction of ex-state Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier), on five of seven political corruption counts that also grew out of the Capitol sting.

However, U.S. Atty. George L. O’Connell, who personally prosecuted Netters and Freeman, expressed renewed confidence Wednesday in the government’s ability to prosecute lawmakers and legislative aides who use their offices to obtain campaign contributions or other payments.

“The message is that a public official, whether elected or not, cannot exchange money in any form . . . for legislative acts,” O’Connell said. “If they do, they are going to be charged and convicted of extortion, racketeering and money laundering.”

Netters, 36, and Freeman, 44, both took the verdicts calmly.

“We definitely plan to appeal,” Netters said. “My spirit is, the fight goes on.”

Convicted of nine counts of extortion, racketeering, conspiracy, tax evasion and money laundering, Netters said he is a victim of a politically motivated investigation aimed at Democratic legislators and their staffs.

“They call it a sting operation, but I think it’s a hit operation targeted toward a certain category,” he said. “It’s the worst aspect of the political process,” he added, referring to the fact that the undercover operation was launched by government prosecutors appointed by a Republican President.

Netters’ attorney, George Walker, said his client hopes to find new evidence that could help him win a new trial.

Freeman, who was convicted on two counts of conspiracy and aiding extortion while he was a lobbyist in 1986, refused to comment. But his attorney, E. Richard Walker, said his client plans an appeal.

If Netters received the maximum possible sentence, he could face a term of more than 100 years in prison; Freeman could receive 40 years. However, both are likely to face sentences more in line with those imposed in earlier cases.

Montoya is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence at the federal prison near the Mojave Desert town of Boron, although that term could be reduced as a result of last month’s appeals court reversal.

O’Connell said he will seek similar sentences for Netters and Freeman. “We’ll look at what Sen. Montoya got as a starting point. This is a very serious offense. . . . It doesn’t make it any less of a crime that they are not elected.”

In addition to a prison term, Netters will also have to return $14,200 in payments he received in 1986 and 1988 from dummy companies set up by the FBI as part of the sting.

In seven weeks of testimony, the jury heard in detail how FBI agents played the role of Southern businessmen seeking legislation to get cheap financing for a shrimp processing plant near Sacramento.

The evidence included scores of secretly recorded videotapes and audiotapes in which the defendants discussed how much money would be needed to pass special interest bills carried by Netters’ boss, Assemblywoman Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles) in 1986 and again in 1988. The U.S. attorney’s office announced earlier that Moore would not be charged.

In the end, the tapes proved decisive. “Just in the tapes themselves, the defendants incriminated themselves,” one juror, Neil Granis of Stockton, told the Associated Press. “They weren’t just blowing smoke. They were deadly serious.”

In addition to Montoya, former state Sen. Paul Carpenter (D-Norwalk) was also convicted on political corruption charges last year and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. As a result, he lost his seat on the State Board of Equalization. He remains free pending his appeal.