Former California Councilman Faces Decades Behind Bars In Another Cannabis Bribery Scandal

On Monday, federal charges led to the arrest of a former local councilman in California, reported CBS News.

Accusations suggest that he, along with a business associate, paid $70,000 in bribes, which were allegedly given to a member of the Baldwin Park City Council to secure their support and votes for commercial cannabis permits.

Authorities from the U.S. Attorney's Office have arrested Isaac Jacob Galvan (36), who had served on the Compton City Council from 2013 until May 2022.

On Monday, Yichang Bai (50) from Arcadia, the owner and operator of W&F International Corp., an import-export business based in Diamond Bar, was also apprehended by special agents from the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. Bai is accused of facilitating the scheme and was a consulting client of Galvan.

Galvan and Bai have been indicted on charges of conspiracy, bribery and eight counts of wire fraud.

According to Assistant Director Donald Always of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, Galvan has been arrested for leveraging his authoritative role to unlawfully offer bribes to a city official to benefit himself and a client.

As per court documents, Ricardo Pacheco, a former city councilman from Baldwin Park, who was 60 years old at the time, kicked off a process of soliciting bribes from businesses interested in obtaining marijuana development agreements and permits within the city following Baldwin Park's decision to legalize cannabis in 2017.

Federal prosecutors revealed that Pacheco made a pact to leverage his influential role in city government as councilman to help companies secure marijuana permits, using his voting power to favor their interests in exchange for undisclosed payments.

After a first $10,000 payment in August 2017 and securing Bai's company W&F as a client, Galvan facilitated $70,000 in bribes from Bait to Pacheco. In return, Pacheco, who served on Baldwin Park's city council for over two decades, voted in favor of W&F's marijuana permit and its subsequent bid to relocate its operations.

What's Next

Galvan and Bai are expected to be arraigned Monday in Los Angeles federal court, facing decades in federal prison.

The hearing to sentence Pacheco, confessing to a single bribery charge resulting from his acceptance of substantial sums of money in illicit exchange, has been set for June 17.

Michigan Cannabis Shop Owner Faces 9 Years In Federal Prison For Tax Evasion

The latest cannabis bribery scandal comes on the heels of another from Benzinga's home state Michigan. This one was centered around a former owner of a Michigan marijuana store who faces up to nine years in prison following a guilty charge by a federal court of evading income taxes and obstructing the IRS.

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Richmond concealed gross receipts by paying operating expenses in cash and rerouting credit card payments through an unrelated bank account from 2011 to 2014.

According to IRS estimates, this resulted in over $1 million in lost tax revenue.

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The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, the place where deals get done, is returning to Chicago this Sept 27-28 for its 17th edition. Get your tickets today before prices increase and secure a spot at the epicenter of cannabis investment and branding.

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