Home confinement for embezzlement set to end for Glendale’s ex-mayor

A former Glendale mayor and city councilman convicted of felony embezzlement was set to be released from home confinement Sunday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

John Drayman, who was sentenced in April to one year in jail for embezzlement, perjury and filing false tax returns, spent just eight days behind bars before he was transferred to his Montrose condominium to serve the rest of his time.

His sentence, which was cut in half the same week he was taken into custody, was shortened even further, to six weeks, when he was placed on home confinement due to jail overcrowding, the Glendale News Press reported.

Although Drayman’s plea deal didn’t include an admission of exactly how much he embezzled, prosecutors have said he stole at least $304,000 between 2004 and 2011 from the Montrose Shopping Park Assn., which promotes the Mayberry-esque shopping center along Honolulu Avenue.

Drayman took the money as he collected vendor payments at the Sunday farmers market organized by the group, authorities have said. The convict, who helped start the market, was the sole collector of vendor fees and, at one point, didn’t turn over proceeds for nearly a year.

While Drayman was indicted on 28 counts last year, he pleaded guilty in March to only three.

He is required to serve five years of probation and make restitution payments of about $305,000 to the shopping park association and $14,000 to the California Franchise Tax Board.

Drayman served as Glendale’s mayor in 2008 and 2009. He was on the City Council between 2007 and 2011.

Levine writes for Times Community News.