Mother Pleads Not Guilty in Bribery Case

A 43-year-old Buena Park woman pleaded not guilty Monday to felony charges that she tried to bribe witnesses not to testify against her sons in two gang robbery trials.

Maria Trinidad Rodarte, handcuffed and wearing jail fatigues, said nothing as Municipal Judge Dan C. Dutcher denied her attorney’s request for lower bail, which had been set at $40,000. Rodarte is being held at Orange County Jail.

Rodarte allegedly offered to give a woman $500 if she would change her testimony about a robbery she had told police was committed by Lino Rodarte, 21, and other members of the West Trece gang. Police said the elder Rodarte also made veiled threats to the woman.

The witness went to the police, who have offered five tape-recorded phone conversations of the two women talking as evidence.

The taped exchanges led to charges involving an earlier case, in which a witness abruptly changed her testimony concerning robbery and sexual battery charges against Rodarte’s 24-year-old son, Raul Beruman Rodarte.

Maria Trinidad Rodarte’s attorney, Malcolm Gulesarian, said Monday that his client was merely a frantic, protective parent trying to protect her sons. He said a community movement was underway to raise bail for her.

“The bail amount in this case is unbelievable,” Gulesarian said. “She’s not a threat to the community, nor is she a flight risk. She made a mistake, but that doesn’t make her Public Enemy No. 1.”