Former College Official, Wife Sentenced in Fraud

A judge sentenced a former Compton Community College trustee to four years in state prison Friday for his part in a scheme that fraudulently diverted more than $1 million in public funds to himself and his family members.

Ignacio Pena, 46, received the sentence under a plea agreement that requires him to repay $1.12 million and bans him from any public office in California.

Pena’s wife -- Bertha Bayardo Pena, who aided her husband in the scheme -- was also sentenced under a plea agreement Friday, to three years of probation, a $150,000 fine and 300 hours of community service.

Both sentences were handed down by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter.

Ignacio Pena, who was an elected member of the college’s board of trustees from 1991 to 2003, created a shell organization to siphon money from the college. The organization, called Familias en Progreso, was supposed to have set up a community sports program in which participants would have received college credit. The program was supposed to have benefited the college by boosting enrollment, which would have meant increased state funding.

Although Familias en Progreso had a contract with the college from 1999 to 2002, the program did not exist.

The Penas were arrested in August as the school struggled to keep its accreditation and remain open. The 6,600-student campus was taken over by the state last year, and its elected board was stripped of power.

In October, Bertha Pena pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft. Her husband pleaded guilty to one felony count of crime by a public officer.