Ad Signs Case Has New Plea Deals

Two former Colton city councilmen and a Laguna Beach businessman who all pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges that were later dismissed by a federal judge plan to accept new plea agreements next month, officials said Monday.

Former City Councilmen Abe Beltran and Don Sanders pleaded guilty in 2001 to charges that they accepted cash payments from businessman Allen Steward in exchange for supporting his billboard project on county-owned land in Colton. The pleas were part of a wide-ranging federal corruption probe in San Bernardino County that resulted in charges being filed against five current and former elected officials and three businessmen.

The federal charges accused developers Steward and Shepardson “Shep” McCook of Newport Beach of conspiring to bribe Beltran, Sanders and other government officials, including County Supervisor Gerald Eaves, with cash and vacations for their support of the construction of seven billboards near the interchange of Interstates 10 and 215. McCook later sold five of the billboards for $4.4 million.

McCook and Eaves are on trial, facing state corruption charges.

Tom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, confirmed Monday that U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real agreed to dismiss the charges against Steward, Beltran and Sanders. But Mrozek declined to say why, adding: “We are not commenting in the interest of justice.”

A lawyer for Steward said defense attorneys and prosecutors mutually agreed to request that Real dismiss the charges because some of the facts in the original indictment were in error. The attorney, Richard Beswick, declined to say which facts but said the new indictment could lead to different charges filed against his client.

“We will enter into a new agreement to dismiss this case,” Beswick said.

Asked if the new indictment would benefit his client with a lesser penalty, Beswick said: “I think it will benefit both sides.”

Beswick declined to elaborate, saying he had agreed to a request by Assistant U.S. Atty. Edward Moreton not to discuss the matter in detail.

Moreton, who is overseeing the corruption cases, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Winston McKesson, an attorney for Sanders, also declined to explain the agreement.