- A recently unsealed plea agreement suggests that state Sen. Susan Rubio was part of a sprawling cannabis bribery scheme when she served on the Baldwin Park City Council in 2018. Rubio denies wrongdoing.
- Rubio said she talked to federal authorities and was told she is not a target of their investigation into a plot in which officials allegedly took bribes for permits to operate marijuana businesses.
Documents made public by the U.S. attorney’s office last week allege that a public official who fits the profile of state Sen. Susan Rubio was part of sprawling cannabis bribery scheme when she served on the Baldwin Park City Council and campaigned for state office in 2018.
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Rubio, a Democrat, said through a spokesman that she “has no reason to believe that she would be included in any criminal allegations.”
The documents do not name Rubio, but they describe a public official who fits her profile: someone who was in a position to terminate the Baldwin Park city attorney in 2017 and 2018, and was running for state office through November of 2018. Rubio is the only Baldwin Park official whose experience matches those criteria.
The information was revealed in a plea agreement in which former Baldwin Park City Atty. Robert Tafoya admitted his role in a cannabis bribery scheme and agreed to cooperate in ongoing public corruption investigations. Edgar Cisneros, the former city manager of Commerce, also pleaded guilty in the plot in which local officials allegedly took bribes to hand out permits for marijuana businesses.
According to his unsealed plea agreement, Tafoya alleges that an unnamed Baldwin Park official requested $30,000 in cash payments to later be funneled into their state campaign account through straw donors. The candidate allegedly wanted these small donations to “demonstrate to other donors his/her broad support in the community,” the plea says.
In exchange for the money, Tafoya alleges the candidate agreed to use their powers as a state elected official to protect Tafoya’s job and assist him financially.
The plea agreement describes Tafoya meeting with the unnamed Baldwin Park official in 2017 and providing the first $15,000 payment “in cash in an envelope.” A second cash payment of the same amount came after the unnamed official “won his/her primary in June 2018,” the document says.
Campaign finance reports show two contributions totaling $2,600 from Tafoya & Garcia, LLP — a law firm belonging to Tafoya that is mentioned in the plea agreement — to Rubio’s campaign in August and October 2018.
Rubio’s office did not answer The Times’ question about whether she is the unnamed individual Tafoya refers to in his plea.
“Mr. Tafoya has apparently made allegations against numerous individuals in order to reduce his sentence,” Rubio spokesperson Matthew Z’berg said in a statement.
Z’berg said federal officials informed Rubio that she is not a target in the government’s investigation, and he added that she “volunteered hours of her time” aiding the authorities in their investigation. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office said he could neither confirm nor deny these claims.
Z’berg also pointed to Rubio’s record on the City Council voting against approval for a cannabis business.
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