Judge in Bell corruption case expected to rule today on whether 6 accused will stand trial

[The Northerner]

The judge in the Bell corruption case is expected to rule on Wednesday whether six current or former council members will be ordered to stand trial on charges of misappropriating more than $1 million from the small city's treasury.

The city leaders are accused of drawing hefty stipends for serving on boards and commissions that rarely met -– or when they did, for only a few minutes. Council members made close to $100,000 a year for their part-time jobs.

A preliminary hearing for the city’s former administrators, Robert Rizzo and Angela Spaccia, is set to open next week. Both are accused of looting money from the city.

In court documents filed this week, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office described Rizzo as a “godfather” who loaned out the city’s money at will and drew up his own illegal compensation packages. The memo noted that copies of the contacts were found on Spaccia’s work computer.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/bell-8-judge-close-to-deciding-fate-of-council-members-accused-in-corruption-case.html