Informant Pleads Guilty to Bribery

The man who triggered the federal government’s investigation of contractor payoffs to elected officials in Carson pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to charges of extortion and filing a false income tax return.

Former Councilman Manuel Ontal Jr., 38, admitted taking $5,000 in exchange for his vote to renew the city’s contract with a local bus company. He also acknowledged having failed to report $33,000 in income to the Internal Revenue Service.

Ontal blew the whistle on his colleagues when he walked into the U.S. attorney’s office in September 2000 and outlined what prosecutors would later describe as a pattern of widespread corruption inside City Hall.

For the next two years, he worked undercover for federal investigators, wearing a concealed recording device during meetings with other council members in which plans to take bribes were allegedly discussed.

In addition to Ontal, federal authorities have charged nine other people, including Mayor Daryl Sweeney, former Mayor Pete Fajardo, former Councilwoman Raunda Frank, Sweeney’s personal lawyer, two officials of trash hauler Browning Ferris Industries and three other alleged participants.

Outside the courtroom Monday, Ontal’s lawyer, Jose Lauchengco, said his client got sucked into corruption during his first term as a part-time city councilman. But stricken by his conscience, Lauchengco said, Ontal “undertook to put a stop to it” and contacted federal authorities.

Under federal sentencing guidelines outlined in his plea agreement with prosecutors, Ontal faces a possible 21 to 27 months in prison, although the government said it might recommend a lighter term because of his assistance in the investigation.

Ontal is the third defendant to plead guilty in the case. Fajardo recently entered a guilty plea to two extortion counts involving a $50,000 bribe payment and an unsuccessful $70,000 bribe demand. Michael Aloyan, owner of Hub City Disposal in Compton, pleaded guilty to one bribery count. He admitted offering Ontal $1.5 million in 2001 in exchange for the city’s waste-hauling contract.

Former Councilwoman Frank, a Los Angeles County deputy public defender, is scheduled to enter a guilty plea in April. She resigned after being indicted last year and has negotiated a deal with prosecutors.

Sweeney, the main target of the investigation, has pleaded not guilty and has vowed to keep his job while he fights the charges. He is accused of soliciting a $600,000 bribe through his personal lawyer, Robert Pryce Jr., from Browning Ferris for the city’s $60-million commercial refuse contract.

According to court documents, the plan allegedly called for Pryce to get $200,000, the remainder to be shared by Sweeney, Frank and Ontal. Browning Ferris was awarded the contract although it was the high bidder. The contract has since been rescinded.