Moorpark Councilman Quits, Pleads Guilty : Inquiry: Scott Montgomery admits to one count each of felony and misdemeanor conflict of interest over a $3,500 loan.

Moorpark City Councilman Scott Montgomery resigned from office Thursday and pleaded guilty to felony conflict of interest for accepting a $3,500 loan from a Ventura County trash hauler, then voting on the company’s contract extension last year.

Scheduled to testify before a county grand jury for the third time Thursday morning, Montgomery, 42, instead met with prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor count of financial conflict of interest by a public official.

As an admitted felon, Montgomery was obligated to resign from all of his elective and appointive positions--including his council seat and another position as a member of a Ventura County trash agency. He could have held office until his scheduled sentencing Nov. 21, but agreed to leave early.

His pleas--a surprise ending to a lengthy probe marked by Montgomery’s fervent denial of any wrongdoing--represent the first successful prosecution of a local City Council member since 1987, when another Moorpark councilman pleaded guilty to embezzlement.

Montgomery, a sales manager for a computer printer company, stood expressionless as Municipal Judge Thomas Hutchins confirmed conditions of his plea at a brief midafternoon arraignment. Then he repeatedly refused comment as he walked quickly to the nearby County Jail, where he was booked and released on his own recognizance.

He faces a maximum penalty of 3 1/2 years in jail and a $1,000 fine when he appears for sentencing. Montgomery was not offered a light sentence for pleading guilty, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Aveis said.

Despite the guilty pleas, Montgomery’s attorney, Daniel J. Schmidt, maintained outside court that his client did nothing illegal.

“Scott had a very good case,” he said. “Naturally, Scott made some careless business decisions, which created an appearance of impropriety.”

Schmidt said Montgomery pleaded guilty because he did not want his family and the city to suffer as the investigation dragged on. “The city has a lot of important decisions to make in the coming months, and they would not be able to make those decisions under a cloud.”

Prosecutors, Montgomery and Schmidt all refused to say whether the councilman could have faced additional charges had he been indicted.

“We can’t comment on that . . . until after he is sentenced,” said Jeffrey G. Bennett, chief deputy district attorney.

“We’re not going to have any comment today,” Schmidt said. “That day will come.”

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But last week, Schmidt said he thought that aggressive questioning of Montgomery by prosecutors in grand jury sessions was an attempt to get his client to perjure himself. And in a hallway conversation with prosecutors Wednesday, the councilman appeared frantic and asked for an immediate meeting.

“I could go to jail,” he said.

Even before Montgomery appeared in court Thursday, he sent a one-sentence resignation letter to Moorpark City Clerk Lillian Hare: “I hereby resign my seat on the Moorpark City Council and as the city’s representative on all commissions and committees effective immediately.”

City officials who have served with the two-term councilman said they were stunned by Montgomery’s sudden plea and resignation. Most declined to criticize him, instead focusing on his seven years on the council. He is credited with bringing a shopping mall to the city’s downtown.

But former Councilwoman Eloise Brown said: “I’m astonished and disappointed. I expected more from Scott. . . . I hate that this is happening to the city.”

Ending a 10-month political corruption inquiry first reported by The Times in the spring, Montgomery acknowledged that he broke state law when he borrowed $3,500 from Manny Asadurian Sr. in July, 1993, then voted to extend the trash-hauling contract of G. I. Rubbish, a firm in which Asadurian had a large financial interest.

“Evidence indicated that Montgomery was aware of Asadurian’s interest at the time of the vote,” Bennett said.

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Publicly, Montgomery had denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the money was payment for his sale of a computer system tI. Sweeping, described by prosecutors as a fictitious name for Asadurian.

Asadurian and his representatives involved in the payment have publicly stated that no computer sale ever occurred and that no computer was ever delivered.

The district attorney’s special political corruption unit began investigating Montgomery’s business dealings with top officials from the east county’s largest trash company after the councilman ran unsuccessfully last year for a seat on the County Board of Supervisors.

The investigation included two weeks of grand jury testimony by Montgomery and key officials of G. I. Industries, a Simi Valley company that is operated by Asadurian’s family, which lives in Moorpark.

With exclusive contracts to pick up trash in most of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, G. I. Industries serves about 40,000 customers and has gross revenues of about $19 million a year.

When Montgomery received the $3,500 payment, he was operating Eagle Systems, a computer and financial consulting firm, out of his Moorpark home, and was delivering newspapers for the Ventura County Star-Free Press. He now works as a sales manager for a Chatsworth photocopier equipment company.

Although Montgomery told D. A. investigators and the grand jury that he received the money as payment for installing a computer and software for Asadurian’s company, Asadurian said that it was a short-term loan and that he was waiting to be paid back.

The investigators were also looking at a $12,000 payment that Montgomery received in 1992 from G. I. Equipment Leasing, a former subsidiary of G. I. Industries that is run by Asadurian’s son, Manuel Jr.

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Montgomery’s case is one of only a handful of successful prosecutions of public officials in recent years.

In 1993, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury’s new political corruption unit gained misdemeanor money-laundering convictions against Michael E. Wooten and Frank Marasco, two promoters of an Oxnard card casino. Wooten was also convicted of felony grand theft in an unrelated construction deal discovered during the inquiry.

Two years earlier, Community College Trustee Tom Ely was convicted of embezzlement. And in 1991, former state job-training official Robert Munoz of Oxnard pleaded guilty to a criminal conflict of interest for accepting consulting fees from a grower on whose state contract he voted.

In 1987, Moorpark Councilman Danny Woolard was convicted of embezzling $5,500 from the Moorpark post office where he worked. The year before, County Supervisor Edwin A. Jones pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and public drunkenness after being charged with lewd conduct and indecent exposure.

And in 1970, County Supervisor H. F. Robinson was convicted of accepting bribes.

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Daryl Kelley is a Times staff writer and Scott Hadly is a correspondent.