Isaac Galvan
Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — A former Compton City Council member pleaded guilty Dec. 9 to taking part in a bribery scheme to secure marijuana permits and cheating on his taxes.
Isaac Galvan, 38, pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles to one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of evasion of his tax assessment for failing to report nearly $560,525 in income for the tax years 2017 through 2020.
He agreed to pay $323,557 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sentencing is set for June 8.
According to his plea agreement, Galvan — who served on the Compton City Council from 2013 until May 2022 — bribed Ricardo Pacheco when he was a Baldwin Park councilman with $70,000 for the permits.
Co-defendant Yichang Bai, 52, of Arcadia, owner-operator of import-export business W&F International and a Galvan consulting client, allegedly helped orchestrate the scheme. He is headed for trial in February.
In June 2017, Baldwin Park began permitting the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana within its city limits. Soon afterward, Pacheco began soliciting bribes from businesses seeking marijuana development agreements and related permits in the city, according to court documents.
In exchange for the illicit payments, Pacheco agreed to use his position in city government to assist the companies with obtaining marijuana permits, including voting in their favor, federal prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Galvan first paid Pacheco a $10,000 bribe in August 2017 to secure Pacheco’s support for a future consulting client’s marijuana permit.
After securing W&F as a client, Galvan facilitated $70,000 in bribes from Bai to Pacheco, prosecutors say.
Pacheco, 62, of Baldwin Park, served on Baldwin Park’s City Council from 1997 until his resignation in June 2020.
Galvan paid the bribes in exchange for Pacheco’s political support and promise to deliver Baldwin Park’s approval of marijuana permits for W&F.
Pacheco then delivered, voting in favor of W&F’s marijuana permit and later voting in favor of Bai’s bid to relocate its operations, court papers show.
Pacheco pleaded guilty in June 2020 to a federal bribery charge unrelated to the marijuana-permit scheme and agreed to cooperate in the government’s public corruption probe. He is expected to be sentenced in March.
