Court's Scales Tip in Different Directions for Former Councilmen

By ANDREW DONOHUE

Friday, November 11, 2005 | Justice took diverging paths Thursday for two former city councilmen whose fates have been zipped together since the FBI raided City Hall two-and-a-half years ago.

In a case that fissured the city's political establishment to the core and served as preamble to the fiscal and political crisis now gripping San Diego, a federal judge Thursday sentenced former City Councilman Ralph Inzunza to 21 months in prison for his role in a scheme to loosen strip club regulations. The work was done on behalf of an industry lobbyist in exchange for clandestine campaign contributions.

Before sentencing Inzunza, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller threw out related corruption convictions against former Councilman Michael Zucchet. Miller disposed of seven of the nine convictions handed down by a jury nearly four months ago, saying there was no link between Zucchet's actions and campaign contributions he received from the strip club lobbyist.

The remaining two convictions against Zucchet will go back to court for a new trial. Lance Malone, the lobbyist for the owner of Cheetahs strip clubs who was portrayed as the bagman in the scheme, was sentenced to three years in prison.

A third former city councilman, Charles Lewis, was also charged in the case but died of liver disease last year at age 37 before the trial started.

"The human wreckage in this case is extraordinary," Miller said during Inzunza's sentencing. "It spans everything from acquittal to conviction to death when you really think about it."

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Indeed, the case cut short the careers, and in some respects the lives, of three 30-something newcomers to elected office.

"As happy as I am, I will never get my name back. I will never get my job back," Zucchet said outside the courthouse with his wife, Teresa. "I am financially ruined. My fiscal and emotional health, and the health of my family has been devastated."

The day of surprises, tears and unabashed repenting brings the first step of closure in a case that dogged City Hall since the FBI raid in May 2003.

However, it also shifts focus to the ongoing, unrelated Justice Department probe at City Hall. The U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI have been investigating possible political corruption and securities fraud for nearly two years. When U.S. Attorney Carol Lam won convictions in July, it was thought to embolden her anticipated actions in the ongoing probe.

What impact Zucchet's partial acquittal has is yet to be seen. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Rice said the prosecution would review whether or not to appeal Miller's decision to throw out the convictions.

Others saw broader implications in Zucchet's acquittal beyond the federal courthouse.

When taken with Councilwoman Donna Frye's loss in Tuesday's mayoral election, some questioned whether Zucchet's acquittal had the San Diego reform movement stumbling backwards after what appeared to be considerable progress.

"The backstop of public behavior is always the federal court. They are the yardstick by which appropriate behavior is measured," said Pat Shea, an advisor to Frye and City Attorney Mike Aguirre. "I think this has changed the dynamics of the reform movement considerably, maybe even terminally."

Supporters of Zucchet said justice had finally been served.

"He should have been acquitted the first time," said Donald Cohen, president of the Center on Policy Initiatives, a union-affiliate think tank. "He was a good public servant. It was a great tragedy for him and his family."

Miller, the judge, said the prosecution failed to properly tie the acceptance of campaign contributions from Malone and associates and Zucchet's attempt to overturn the law that forbids nude dancers from coming within six feet of patrons. He also questioned the credibility of one of the prosecution's key witnesses, Cheetahs owner Michael Galardi.

Galardi was charged but forged a plea bargain with prosecutors in exchange for testifying in the case. Although it was never mentioned specifically in the indictments, Galardi alleged on the stand that he gave Malone $10,000 in cash to deliver to the councilmen. While some jurors said they didn't take that allegation into account, Galardi's allegations appeared to trouble Miller.

Additionally, he said there was evidence that Zucchet was unfamiliar with the law and wasn't recognized by Malone as being involved to the level of Inzunza and Lewis. Miller also noted that in tapes Zucchet said he wouldn't support overturning the ordinance without the Police Department's support.

Miller did chastise Zucchet for deceitful conduct in playing along with a staged "charade" during a City Council hearing in which a Cheetahs employee from Las Vegas pretended to be a concerned citizen. The man, Tom Waddell, said he wanted strip club regulations to be revised to increase mandated distances between clubs and such places as schools and churches. Zucchet forwarded the matter to the City Attorney's Office for review after Waddell's comments.

For his part, Inzunza was a decidedly different person during Thursday's hearing.

After being convicted in July, he stood defiantly outside the courtroom and proclaimed his innocence to the media.

"I believe I have done nothing wrong," he said on that July day.

But with his attorneys arguing that he serve no prison time, Inzunza broke into tears as he stood in front of the judge and explained that he and his family, a prominent South Bay political force, had suffered sufficiently as a result of his actions.

"I can't believe how dumb I was to get sidetracked on this. This isn't what I was elected to do," Inzunza told Miller.

The former councilman, who along with Zucchet resigned in the days following their convictions, said he will live with a scarlet letter for life. He said that his 3-year-old son, who bears the Inzunza name, will live with that letter, too. "People will know who his dad is," he said.

"I have fallen so hard and so fast, it's so embarrassing and so humiliating," said Inzunza, who was known for his brash style and arrogance while on the council.

He said he was pained by "the way people look at me throughout San Diego -- without even a hint of respect … It's like a baseball bat to my gut."

The former councilman's attorneys argued that by being forced to vacate office at age 36, by the public attention focused on the case and the disgrace visited upon his family, Inzunza had suffered enough and didn't deserve prison time.

Miller said that Inzunza had lived an otherwise "extraordinary life" filled with community service. Time and again he complimented Inzunza's record of public service and the many letters he'd received on the former councilman's behalf. However, he said that the sentence for Inzunza's crime must also be a deterrent for other public officials.

He called Inzunza's statement "one of the most broad-ranging and poignant I have ever heard."

Miller appeared touched by Inzunza's last-second reversal. "Courts are not immune to the sadness and tragedy that a case represents."

Malone and Inzunza remain free pending a Dec. 12 hearing and can appeal within 10 days. At the Dec. 12 hearing, the two counts facing Zucchet will also be addressed.

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