City Hall Scandal Playing Out in Compton Court

Just two years ago, they controlled Compton City Hall. Omar Bradley was the mayor. Amen Rahh and Delores Zurita were his City Council allies. City Manager John D. Johnson ran the day-to-day operations.

Now they spend their days across the plaza from City Hall, in an 11th-floor courtroom on trial for allegedly using their city-issued credit cards as free passes to charge everything from travel, limousine rides and golf shoes to dental work and health club memberships.

The trial has cast the spotlight again on the controversial tenure of Bradley and his allies, who dominated politics in the working-class city for several years.

The defendants have denied all the charges, with their attorneys offering a variety of defenses, among them that the city was reimbursed. Bradley didn’t even like to play golf, his lawyer said in an interview.

“He wasn’t playing golf for his own amusement. What he was doing was saying, ‘Hey, how about opening up a business in Compton?’ ” said attorney Ben Pesta, who insisted that all of Bradley’s credit card charges were proper.

The former officials also are charged with double-billing the city for thousands of dollars by collecting cash advances for hotel costs, and then using their city credit cards to pay the bills.

Since the former officials lost reelection bids in 2001 and 2002, the city has sunk into a financial crisis so severe that last week it canceled the annual Christmas parade.

Some residents blame Bradley and his allies. For them, the trial is nothing less than an opportunity to hold the former officials responsible for the city’s ills.

“The city of Compton has been placed in a state of financial ruin. I think they should be thrown in jail,” said Pamela Bates, who is a member of a citizens group that regularly attends the court proceedings.

But others see the prosecution as a potentially tragic end for Bradley, a former teacher whose charismatic, flamboyant leadership once inspired hope for the future of the long-struggling city.

They say he brought in jobs, built new housing and beautified the city, and is being blamed for the mistakes of current leaders.

If convicted, Bradley and the other defendants -- who also include current Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux, not a Bradley ally -- would be barred from elected office in California. They could face up to four years in prison. Each of the defendants was charged with two felony counts of misappropriation of public funds.

“It makes me feel sad.... This city was going forward under Bradley,” said Jean Bludso, a 30-year Compton resident. “There is no justice, from the D.A.’s office on down.”

For the district attorney’s public integrity unit, the trial will be a test of juror appeal for this type of prosecution of politicians, according to prosecutors. The unit has launched credit card abuse investigations in other cities, including neighboring Lynwood.

The trial, entering its third week, has been short on drama. Testimony has focused primarily on purchasing procedures and analysis of spending patterns. But lawyers clashed briefly Thursday afternoon when Anthony Willoughby, Zurita’s attorney, tried to inject race into the trial. All of the defendants are African Americans.

He asked an investigator if he thought a white politician who paid for his greens fees with public funds would be prosecuted. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jack W. Morgan cut Willoughby off, agreeing with prosecutors, who said the issue was irrelevant.

In the trial, which focuses on use of the credit cards from 1999 to 2001, prosecutors have leveled the most serious accusations against Bradley, Rahh and Johnson. Zurita, who is Bradley’s aunt, and Arceneaux made swift reimbursements in many cases and used their cards less than the others.

Prosecutors contend that Bradley used public funds to purchase airline tickets for his wife, in-room movies at hotels, golf shoes, divot repair tools and a hat.

Rahh, who teaches at Compton Community College, allegedly paid for his brother’s dental work and more than $2,000 in rental car bills for a friend. He also used his card to pay for a $1,000 health club membership, golf purchases and in-room movies, according to the charges.

Johnson allegedly spent $5,300 to send his son’s basketball team to Florida for a tournament. He also allegedly charged the city $1,186 for a three-year family membership in a 24 Hour Fitness Club in the Inland Empire, where he lives.

Prosecutors have called or plan to call about 55 witnesses, including members of the basketball team, several city officials -- and a forensic auditor, who will detail the money trail.

A full picture of the various defenses has yet to emerge, because only attorneys for Johnson and Zurita have given opening statements. Willoughby, Zurita’s attorney, said that his client paid the city back immediately for all her expenses and that Compton owes her money because she didn’t bill for all of her costs.

George Bird -- the attorney for Arceneaux, who was reelected in 2001 -- said his client got permission from a city manager to use her credit card for a repair on her car that was damaged by a pothole. Her only other personal purchase was a mistake, and she repaid the money when she was notified, he said.

In his opening statement, Johnson’s attorney, Winston McKesson, posed an argument that could emerge as a key element in the case. He said Compton’s ordinance governing the use of credit cards allows for reimbursement of questionable purchases.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry Bork, the lead prosecutor in the case, argued that the ordinance states unambiguously that the cards are to be used for city-authorized business only.

He also told jurors that the defendants made the bulk of their reimbursements after their spending habits became a community issue and after investigators served search warrants in September 2001 at City Hall for credit card records.

“After months and sometimes up to two years, where little or no reimbursements were made, suddenly there was a flood,” said Bork in an interview.

After the credit card purchases became controversial, he said, City Manager Johnson started blacking out lines on credit card bills to hide certain purchases. Bork said that was evidence that Johnson knew he was doing wrong.

This week, prosecutors are scheduled to call to the witness stand the forensic auditor, who will detail the heart of their case. Among the defense witnesses who may testify: Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton) and former Lynwood Councilman Paul Richards.

The trial is expected to end later this month.