Franco’s Campaign Withdraws Erroneous Cable TV Commercial

The 31st Congressional District campaign of Republican Reuben Franco on Tuesday withdrew a cable television commercial that erroneously alleged that a former top aide to Rep. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park) had been convicted of racketeering. The ad referred to Mario Gastelum, 23, who was not a top aide but a field representative and who was not charged with racketeering but was convicted on a drug charge unrelated to his former employment.

Gastelum was sentenced last month in San Diego to three years probation after pleading guilty in federal court to possession of a controlled substance, which he said was 25 pounds of marijuana.

After his arrest in July--about a year after he quit working for Martinez--Gastelum said, he informed authorities about corruption he had witnessed in Martinez’s office. Gastelum said FBI agents interviewed him but did not seem to take his allegations seriously, so he put them in a press release and a letter to the FBI, which he distributed to the news media. His allegations have not been substantiated, and an FBI spokesman said the agency is not investigating Martinez.

Gastelum said that Tuesday that he sent his information to the Franco campaign, which drew erroneous conclusions. Franco said the commercial alleging the racketeering conviction will be replaced with one saying the former aide was convicted on a drug charge.

Maxine Grant, chief of staff for Martinez, said the episode raises doubts about Franco’s judgment. The first ad, she said, was “basically slanderous” and to try to link Gastelum’s drug conviction to this campaign is equally unfair. Besides, she said, Gastelum was hired by Richard Gonzales when he was running Martinez’s office. Gonzales now manages Franco’s campaign.