Official Pleads Guilty to Illegally Taking Fees
Mayor Pete Fajardo has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of accepting attorneys fees although he’s not a lawyer and had signed a pledge that he would not be paid.
After the plea, entered last week, he was sentenced to one year of probation.
He will also have to return the $4,600 he collected in fees from two women he represented in the mid-1990s for claims they had with the federal Social Security Administration, according to his attorney.
Jose Lauchengco, Fajardo’s attorney, said the charges were a result of a misunderstanding, but that Fajardo had pleaded guilty to “put the matter behind him and put his attention to grappling with the problems of Carson.”
Fajardo was working as a law clerk in the 1990s when two women asked him to help them collect benefits from the administration, Lauchengco said.
He had said that he would not collect any fees for his work, but the women were so grateful for his services that they insisted upon paying him, Lauchengco said.
“At first, he said no, but ultimately, he relented,” said Fajardo’s lawyer. “The mayor has apologized. He is very sorry this happened.”
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