Judge finds evidence of crime in Cudahy’s legal maneuvering

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ruled that there is evidence that a crime occurred when the Cudahy City Council hired a prominent downtown law firm to advise it on a criminal investigation in 2001.

At the time, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office was investigating whether the council of the small, low-income city in southeastern Los Angeles County violated conflict-of-interest laws when it hired George Perez as city manager. Perez, who had been elected mayor and worked as a janitor for the city, was hired by the council in 2000, though he had no professional qualifications as city manager. He remains in the post today.

The D.A.’s investigation lasted two years before it was dropped. No charges were filed.

Judge Debre Weintraub said Friday that it appeared the council voted to hire the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton while knowing that individual council members would benefit. By law, elected officials may not use taxpayer money to fund personal expenses, such as the hiring of criminal defense attorneys.

FOR THE RECORD:
Cudahy ruling: An article in the Feb. 21 LATExtra section about a judge’s ruling regarding the hiring of a law firm by the Cudahy City Council said L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley is a defendant in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Monforton. Cooley is not a defendant in the lawsuit. —

Weintraub ruled Friday that Sheppard Mullin would have to turn over the retainer contract it signed with Cudahy.

The law firm had argued that the document was attorney-client communication and therefore private. In a written statement to The Times, Sheppard Mullin general counsel Ron Ryland said the firm would appeal Weintraub’s ruling. He noted that the court was “not ruling that any wrongdoing by the Cudahy City Council had actually occurred.”

Luis Garcia, a former Cudahy City Council candidate and government transparency activist, hailed the ruling as “a big victory for our city.”

“It all appears to me similar to the stuff that has gone on in Bell,” said Garcia. “There are a lot of similarities in the two city managers and councils on how they’re running the city without proper checks and balances.”

The ruling came as part of a whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Monforton against Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and Cooley’s close friend, Robert Philibosian, who is a partner in Sheppard Mullin and a former L.A. County district attorney.

Monforton’s suit alleges that Sheppard Mullin’s agreement with the Cudahy council constituted a conflict of interest because the firm represented individual council members, yet billed the city for the services. When the council members voted to approve the agreement with Sheppard Mullin, Monforton’s complaint contends, “they made a contract in which they had a financial interest,” thus violating conflict-of-interest laws.

sam.quinones@latimes.com