Councilman to Claim FBI Entrapped Him in Probe

City Councilman Ted Moreno will fight political corruption charges by alleging that the FBI entrapped him, his attorney said Wednesday.

For two years, Moreno has denied accusations that he extorted thousands of dollars from business owners who had matters pending before the City Council.

Moreno is building his legal defense on the contention that the FBI crossed the line in its two-year corruption probe, according to interviews and court papers.

“This is a classic case of entrapment, and we look forward to presenting the facts at trial,” said the councilman’s lawyer, Dean Steward.

Moreno, 33, is scheduled to stand trial Monday on a 25-count federal indictment that includes charges of extortion, money laundering, mail fraud and providing false statements to the FBI.

Federal prosecutors contend that Moreno masterminded a scheme to extort campaign contributions from business owners in 1996 in exchange for promises to support them on matters they had pending before the City Council. The FBI reportedly supplied one of the owners with money used to pay Moreno. Another businessman allegedly gave Moreno 14 South African Krugerrand gold coins.

For his defense to work, Moreno will need to prove that the FBI used gas station owner Victor Koshkerian to lure him into a crime he otherwise would not have committed.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John Hueston, who plans to present videotape evidence showing Moreno accepting cash payments, scoffed at the defense strategy.

“The evidence will show that there was no entrapment in this case,” Hueston said. “The evidence will show that Moreno was the willing ringleader.”

Steward declined to provide details about his planned defense. On Wednesday, he gave U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor a list of questions that he would like to ask prospective jurors, including their feelings about the entrapment issue.

Entrapment defenses are often used in corruption cases, especially those in which the prosecution has such incriminating evidence as videotape, said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor.

“It’s fairly rare to win on entrapment,” she said.

Moreno, who under federal sentencing guidelines faces as much as nine years in prison if convicted, is the last of four defendants in the case. Former Santa Ana Councilman Tony Espinoza and City Council candidates Roman Palacios and Hector Olivares have already pleaded guilty to federal charges.

According to a trial memo filed Wednesday, Moreno accepted $27,000 from Koshkerian in 1996 and used the money to fund his reelection effort and the campaigns of Palacios and Olivares. The memo also described an elaborate scheme to conceal the donations, including payment of cash to friends who, in turn, made political donations.