Perris council member pleads guilty to drug charge, resigns

A member of the Perris City Council pleaded guilty Monday to a felony drug charge and, as part of his plea agreement, resigned from his council seat.

Julio Rodriguez, 29, entered a guilty plea to one felony count of furnishing methamphetamine, according to John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney’s office.

Rodriguez also submitted his letter of resignation to the city attorney and city clerk, said Perris spokesman Joseph Vargo.

Rodriguez was arrested in June 2014 after he called police to report the theft of his city-issued iPad from his room at the Red Lion Inn in Perris, prosecutors said.

After officers arrived, they found him under the influence of drugs and later discovered methamphetamine and three glass pipes in the hotel room, prosecutors said.

He told police that the iPad was stolen by a man who spent the night with him in the hotel room, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced Friday to five years’ probation, when all other counts against him will be dismissed.

He was elected to the City Council in 2012, and his term was set to expire in November 2016. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Rodriguez must resign from the council immediately.

Rodriguez could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Stephen Allen, declined to speak until after his client’s sentencing.

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.