Rancho Cucamonga councilman convicted in government fraud

Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez was convicted of conspiracy, theft and fraud Wednesday for taking a salary in a San Bernardino County government job allegedly arranged by a politically connected developer in which he did little work.

Prosecutors charged that instead of doing his job, Gutierrez took trips to Las Vegas and Monterey, Calif., representing the city of Rancho Cucamonga, and also that he informed his colleagues that he worked for developer Jeff Burum and not the county.

Burum has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Gutierrez’s trial figured in a Times story earlier this month that critically examined California cities’ use of redevelopment money intended for affordable housing. Gutierrez had allegedly pushed for a deal in which Rancho Cucamonga gave $42.5 million in affordable housing funds to a nonprofit founded and, at that time, headed by Burum. Consultants hired by the city said the 2007 deal with the nonprofit, National Community Renaissance, which kept rents low on apartments that had already been subsidized by the city, was not worth that much. One draft report said the city should offer the developer about $12 million for the deal.

Prosecutors argued that Gutierrez pushed for the deal because he wanted to curry favor with Burum, who, according to the complaint, helped him get hired in the San Bernardino County assessor’s office where he rarely performed his duties.

Gutierrez faces up to three years in prison for each of the four counts. He will be back in court Dec. 15 for sentencing. This was his second trial. A first trial, in June, ended with a hung jury.

His attorney, James Reiss, said his client plans to appeal. “This case involved a very tough political climate right now,” he said.

A spokesman for Burum called the verdict “a travesty.”

“The verdict against Rex Gutierrez, after two years, two trials and millions of taxpayer dollars, is all based on one convicted felon who is trading testimony for probation,” spokesman Ric Grenell said in a prepared statement. “It is part of a political witch hunt.”

He was referring to testimony by former Assistant San Bernardino County Assessor Adam Aleman, who pleaded guilty to charges of giving false testimony to a grand jury and destroying evidence and is cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for the possibility of a lighter sentence.

Aleman testified that San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus protected Gutierrez at the behest of Burum.

Orlando Cabrera, president of National Community Renaissance, defended the housing deal, and said no one at the nonprofit had done anything wrong.

“We did what we were supposed to do for the benefit of Rancho Cucamonga,” he said

Experts on affordable housing had expressed anger at the deal, saying that it did little to benefit needy residents.

jessica.garrison@latimes.com