Ex-Compton councilman guilty of bribery

Former Compton City Councilmember Isaac Galvan pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal criminal charges for bribing a Baldwin Park city councilman, whom he paid $70,000 in exchange for city marijuana permits.

- BY RICHARD WINTON

Galvan, who ran a consulting service, was involved in a scheme in which he facilitated bribes to Councilman Ricardo Pacheco from one of Galvan’s clients who wanted a marijuana permit in Baldwin Park.

Galvan, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery and one count of tax evasion for failing to report more than half a million dollars in income.

He served on the Compton City Council from 2013 to 2022, when he lost his seat amid a vote-rigging scandal that led to him being charged with election fraud.

In 2017, Baldwin Park began permitting the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana within its city limits. Then-Councilmember Pacheco was 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, a council member until 2020, agreed to use his position to get a firm’s marijuana permits approved, the documents say.

Galvan, who represented W&F International Corp., a Diamond Bar-based import-export business, wanted a marijuana permit for W&F in Baldwin Park.