Ex-Contractor Pleads Guilty to Extortion Plot : Courts: Man says he conspired with Rep. Tucker to get $250,000 from company seeking business in Compton.

A former contractor pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring with U.S. Rep. Walter R. Tucker III to extort $250,000 from a company seeking to build a waste-to-energy facility in Compton while the congressman was mayor there.

Joseph Spraggins, the former owner of B & A Construction in Compton, pleaded guilty to two charges in the case: conspiring to extort bribes and filing a false federal tax return.

Prosecutors said Spraggins’ plea marks the first time anyone has admitted conspiring with Tucker to extort money in the case, which is part of an ongoing investigation of alleged corruption in Compton City Hall.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John M. Potter said Spraggins’ admission in federal court mirrors the allegations laid down in an indictment against Tucker, which charged that he tried to extort $250,000 from Compton Energy Systems, a company that was seeking to build a waste conversion facility in Compton in 1991.

“The individual admitted in court that he helped arrange a meeting between Tucker and CES,” Potter said.

As part of his guilty plea, Spraggins acknowledged that he set up the meeting between Tucker and a representative of the energy company Sept. 12, 1991. Tucker is set to go to trial Sept. 12.

Tucker had no immediate response to the former contractor’s guilty plea. The Democratic congressman’s administrator, Audrey Gibson, said the only thing her boss did was quote Psalm 27 when told what had happened.

The opening passage of the psalm is: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

This June, when the latest of the several charges were filed against him, Tucker issued a statement proclaiming his innocence. “I will vigorously contest these new charges as well as the prior charges in a court of law,” he said.

Besides the conspiracy charge, Tucker is accused of accepting $30,000 in cash and checks in exchange for his support of the Compton Energy Systems project.

Spraggins’ lawyer, Dennis Landin of the Los Angeles public defender’s office, said his client had nothing to say about the day’s proceedings.

“He’d just as soon not talk to anybody about it,” Landin said. “He’s owned up to what he did and obviously will testify truthfully if he is called upon to testify.”

Spraggins’ pleas are part of a sealed agreement with federal prosecutors under which he could receive a sentence of up to 23 years in federal prison.

In addition to Spraggins and Tucker, former City Councilwoman Patricia Moore, who gained national prominence as an outspoken advocate of African American issues, has been charged in the investigation.

Initially, she pleaded guilty to federal charges of extorting $9,100 from Compton Energy Systems. But she withdrew her guilty plea earlier this year, saying she wanted to “tell her story and clear her name.” Part of the provision of the guilty plea was that she would testify for the prosecution in the Tucker trial.

A less prominent figure in the investigation was Spraggins’ former partner, Jose Chinchureta, who in May pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges in the case. Federal authorities at the time declined to say how he might be connected to Tucker and Moore.

For Tucker, the scion of a prominent political family, this is the latest turn in a roller coaster ride that previously has seen him overcome scandal and move on to bigger things.

In 1988, while working as a prosecutor in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, he was charged with tampering with the date on photographs he was using in a narcotics case in an effort to cover up the fact that he withheld them from the defense. He was fired and given three years probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges.

But in 1991 he went on to win the race for Compton mayor--a position his father had held. A year later he launched a successful congressional campaign.