Violations of California and federal ethics laws are punishable
by a variety of civil, criminal and administrative penalties,
depending on the severity of the violation and the degree of
intent to violate the law that enforcement entities are able to
demonstrate.
A city treasurer was indicted on 39 counts of money laundering,
bribery, wire fraud and public corruption, alleging that he used
his elected office and political influence to funnel money from
city projects to family and friends between 1998 and 2003. He was
sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $639,000 in
restitution.
In April of 2009, a southern California sheriff beat a number of
federal corruption charges, only to find himself still being
treated harshly by the court on the one lone witness tampering
conviction. He was sentenced to 66 months in prison and
ordered to pay a $125,000 fine within a year. The judge
said he gave the sentence to promote respect for the law, to be
deterrence to others and to establish a just punishment.
In 2006, a prominent southern California mayor was sentenced to
nearly 16 years in prison and ordered to pay over three-quarters
of a million dollars in restitution. The mayor was
convicted of some 20 public corruption-related charges.
In this 2008 interview
(which follows a commercial), former Senator John Edwards
explains that his success as a public official contributed to an
“egotism” that led him to believe that there would be no
consequences for his actions. He admits that “nothing could be
further from the truth.”
