Moore’s Jury Reaches Verdicts on Most Counts

A federal jury sent out word Tuesday that it has reached verdicts on 21 criminal counts in the political corruption trial of former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore.

After five days of deliberations, the jury indicated that it was deadlocked on four other counts against Moore.

There was no indication which way the jurors had voted and they quit for the day before a decision could be made on whether to announce the verdicts or send the panel back to deliberate on the remaining charges.

U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall scheduled a hearing for 1:30 p.m. today to resolve the issue.

In a brief court session late Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Atty. John M. Potter told the judge that the government would be willing to accept a mistrial on the undecided counts.

But defense attorney Thomas A. Mesereau Jr. said he needed some time to confer with Moore, who had not yet arrived from her home in Compton.

Moore is charged with 23 counts of extortion and two counts of income tax fraud, the outgrowth of a four-year FBI probe of official corruption in Compton.

Twenty of the extortion counts involve cash payoffs she allegedly received from representatives of Compton Energy Systems, which was seeking city approval to build a $250-million waste-to-energy conversion plant.

The company’s president was secretly collaborating with the FBI and payments to Moore totaling $50,100 were surreptitiously recorded by hidden cameras and microphones.

The remaining three extortion counts involved about $12,334 Moore allegedly received from Compton Entertainment, which was seeking permission to open a card casino in the city. Unlike the other payments, these were not documented on audiotapes or videotapes.

Moore’s former campaign manager, Basil Kimbrew, testified that he served as a conduit in the payoff scheme, with the casino backers writing checks to him for bogus consulting services. He said that after depositing the checks, he would draw cash out of his account and deliver it to Moore.

Two other counts against Moore involved allegations that she failed to pay taxes on the alleged bribe payments as well as other income she received in 1991 and 1992.

Moore, who served on the City Council from 1989 to 1993, contends that she was illegally entrapped by the FBI.