Mayor Pleads Innocent in Conflict-of-Interest Case : Brea: Ronald E. Isles is charged with 21 criminal misdemeanor counts. His trial will begin Aug. 10.

Brea Mayor Ronald E. Isles pleaded not guilty Thursday to 21 criminal misdemeanor charges that he violated state conflict-of-interest laws and failed to disclose millions of dollars in loans and other financial interests.

Isles’ lawyer, Thomas Avdeef, telephoned in the not guilty plea to Municipal Judge John W. McOwen.

Isles, a lawyer himself, did not appear in McOwen’s courtroom but was in the Fullerton courthouse on an unrelated case.

“I wouldn’t have expected him to do anything else,” Isles said of the not guilty plea entered on his behalf by Avdeef. He refused to comment further.

Several of the charges against Isles focus on his business relationship with Don McBride, owner of McBride Development Co. of Brea.

Isles and McBride had a partnership to build an apartment complex and business park in Brea. Isles has said that he ended the partnership with McBride when he was elected to the council in 1988.

But the criminal complaint filed May 19 alleges that a business relationship continued between the two men even as Isles voted in 1990 to extend a city contract that granted McBride Development exclusive rights to negotiate to build an auto service station on a city-owned parcel at Brea Boulevard and Cypress Street.

Four other conflict-of-interest charges allege that Isles voted on Olen Properties Inc. development projects in 1989 and 1990, even though Olen Properties made a $925,000 loan to Isles and McBride in 1988.

Two counts allege that Isles violated conflict-of-interest laws because he owned three parcels in the city’s redevelopment area.

The remaining 11 charges allege that Isles failed to report some of his economic interests in state economic disclosure forms in 1989 and 1990, including five loans totaling over $6 million.

McOwen scheduled pretrial hearings for July 30. Isles’ trial will begin Aug. 10. If convicted, Isles could face six months in jail and a maximum fine of $10,000 per count.

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. James Mulgrew said Thursday that an investigation is continuing into conflict-of-interest issues involving Brea Councilman Wayne D. Wedin. Investigators are looking into allegations that he attempted to gain a city contract for Keith Cos. of Costa Mesa, an engineering firm, to study development issues in Tonner Canyon.

The Wedin investigation is unrelated to the charges facing the mayor. Isles was appointed Brea mayor in December for a one-year term. He was elected to the City Council in 1988. A resident of Brea since 1970, the Indiana native served on the Brea Planning Commission from 1974 to 1978. He also served a previous term on the City Council from 1980 to 1983.