Members of Councilman’s Family Charged

Eight family members of Lynwood City Councilman Ramon Rodriguez were charged Wednesday with voter fraud, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced.

All of the defendants -- including the councilman’s two brothers, sister, niece and nephew -- allegedly registered at a nonexistent address in Lynwood so they could vote for Rodriguez in the November 2001 municipal election.

Seven have been arrested, and all face charges of conspiracy to commit election fraud and perjury, crimes punishable by as much as four years in prison.

Ramon Rodriguez, who was not charged, defended his relatives in an interview Wednesday. He said the address they had listed as their residence is a second-floor, one-bedroom apartment attached to his hardware store. He said one of his brothers has lived in the unit, but he said he did not know if the others also had lived there.

Rodriguez, who has been on the council for two years and was appointed vice mayor last year, said the charges are only accusations.

“I don’t feel ashamed,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t commit any fraud.”

The arrests are the latest scandal to rock the mainly Latino community of 70,000 in southeast Los Angeles County.

A former councilman accused of corruption and nepotism was recalled last month. The credit card use of council members on trips to beach resorts and for expensive dinners has triggered another investigation by the district attorney’s office.

Rodriguez told Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Ceballos in June that he believed his family members had registered to vote at the address because they had wanted to help him get elected. Rodriguez told the prosecutor he had learned of the allegations after the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder sent letters to his relatives, informing them that they were being investigated.

Ceballos said he did not know if Rodriguez had been made aware earlier that his family members had registered at 11140 Atlantic Ave., an address that he said does not exist. The closest address is the hardware store at 11144 Atlantic Ave. There is a small living space on the property, and the number 11140 had been written on the door of that space, Ceballos said.

Rodriguez’s sons also registered at the address to vote in 1999, he said, but they were not charged. They might have been living at the property at the time.

“It’s his place of business, so the connection is there,” Ceballos said.

The district attorney’s office opened an investigation after the registrar’s office conducted its own inquiry and referred the case to prosecutors. An anonymous informant also notified prosecutors.

The family members registered to vote between Sept. 12 and Sept. 30, 2001, the prosecutor said. Only six of the eight who allegedly filed the fraudulent voter registration forms actually voted in the election two months later. The defendants actually live in other cities, including Compton, Paramount and Los Banos, Ceballos said.

Until now, Rodriguez has managed for the most part to be free of the controversies that surround many of his colleagues on the five-member council.

Those charged Wednesday are: Ismael Reyes Rodriguez, a brother; Martha Mendoza, a sister; Jose Rodriguez, a brother; Susana Rodriguez, a niece; Ismael Mario Rodriguez Jr., a nephew; Elva Flores Rodriguez, a sister-in-law; and Flores Rodriguez’s sister and her husband, Sylvia and Victor Mendoza. They appeared Wednesday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Their arraignment was postponed until Oct. 29.

One local activist, Miguel Figueroa, welcomed the probe.

“It’s good that all the bad comes to light,” he said. “It’s the only way we can end the corruption here.”