Compton Braces for Rep. Tucker’s Extortion Trial : Court: Charges of accepting bribes while mayor grew out of federal probe into city’s government. Case is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

With his extortion trial opening Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Walter R. Tucker III will have both his personal freedom and political future at stake as the two-term lawmaker tries to prove he is not part of the growing congressional cadre who have been accused of criminal wrongdoing.

At the same time, the trial is sure to be another blow to the beleaguered city of Compton, where Tucker was mayor when he allegedly accepted $37,500 in bribes from businessmen in exchange for his political influence.

Already, at least two members of the state Assembly--Juanita M. McDonald and Willard H. Murray Jr.--are being mentioned as possible candidates for Tucker’s congressional seat even before the trial begins. And even if Tucker is found innocent, the question would remain as to whether he could recover from what is expected to be a bruising six-week trial.

“I will definitely run if the seat becomes vacant,” said Murray in a recent interview. But he also hedged his bets by saying he had not addressed what he would do if Tucker is found innocent.

McDonald was more circumspect, saying she would make no decision until after Tucker’s trial.

“It is not at the center of my agenda,” she said. But when asked if she had been approached about running for Tucker’s seat, she replied, “Mucho.”

In the wake of a federal probe into the workings of Compton’s city government, Tucker was charged in August, 1994, with accepting $30,000 in cash and checks from a company seeking support of the then-mayor for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Compton. He also was accused in that indictment of demanding another $250,000 for his support.

Then, in June, Tucker was accused of two more extortion counts alleging that he accepted $7,500 in bribes from a waste collection company while he was mayor. In all, Tucker has been indicted on 10 extortion charges and two more counts of filing false tax returns. While the undercover investigation was in progress, Tucker ran for Congress and was elected in 1992. In 1994 he won the Democratic primary, tantamount to victory in his district, before the charges against him were filed.

The criminal indictments put Tucker in questionable company, with what seems to be an ever-growing list of federal lawmakers who have been accused of criminal activity.

The latest was U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds (D-Ill.), who was convicted Aug. 23 of having sex with an underage campaign worker.

At one point last year, more members of Congress were in prison, just out or awaiting sentencing than at any time in this century except the late 1970s, when the Koreagate and Abscam bribery scandals were uncovered.

And that does not even include ethical lapses, such as the sexual misconduct charges that caused Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) to resign last week.

The majority of those legislators have been accused of crimes involving money, including bribery, tax evasion and misuse of public funds.

Last Monday’s edition of Roll Call, a newspaper devoted to congressional issues, had a story on charges against Tucker with the headline: “Next on Trial: Rep. Walter Tucker.”

As the trial date has approached, the U.S. attorney’s office has become increasingly active. On Aug. 29, Joseph Scraggins, a former owner of a construction company, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Tucker to extort funds from a business trying to build a waste-to-energy facility in Compton. His lawyer said Scraggins would testify at the Tucker trial if subpoenaed.

Three days later, former Compton Councilwoman Patricia Moore was charged with accepting $62,000 in bribes from two companies seeking to do business with the city. Moore pleaded guilty to a single extortion charge late last year, but changed her plea to innocent in April, saying she wanted to clear her name. Her trial will be held in January.

One of the companies Moore is charged with extorting money from is Compton Energy Systems, the same business named in the Tucker bribery case.

According to prosecutors, the case against Tucker consists of thousands of documents and many hours of video and audiotape evidence.

Tucker declined comment on the upcoming trial, though his statements in the past have implied that the charges were racially motivated.

This is not the first time Tucker has found himself charged with wrongdoing. In 1987, while working in the county prosecutor’s office, Tucker was accused of tampering with dates on photographs in an attempt to cover up the fact that he withheld evidence from the defense.

He pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of preparing false evidence, was placed on three years’ probation and fired from the prosecutor’s office. Despite the tampering charge, Tucker’s political career flourished. In 1991, he was elected mayor of Compton, a post he held for only a brief period before moving on to Congress.

Compton seems almost certain to find itself the object of scrutiny during the Tucker and Moore trials. In the city of 91,400 people, more than a quarter live below the poverty line.

The city has in the last decade tried a number of projects to revitalize its economy, but has instead lost millions of dollars.

Compton has the only school district ever certified by the state as an academic failure and financial disaster. The school district, still under state control, consistently registers some of the lowest test scores in the state. Because of its problems, the district is now the object of a major program designed to reverse its legacy of failure. The City Council became the object of attention in January when its members asked voters to approve salary increases that would have tripled their pay and made them among the highest-paid elected officials in the state. Voters overwhelmingly turned down the proposal.

Maxcy Filer, a 42-year resident of Compton and a former City Council member, said the Tucker and Moore trials will have a detrimental effect on the city.

“Of course it reflects on Compton, no doubt about it,” he said. “Anything such as this sets our city back.”