Robert Rizzo, the rotund ex-city administrator for Bell, pleaded no contest today to 69 charges brought against him for masterminding the corruption scheme that paid exorbitant salaries to city officials.
After the jump, find out how much time in prison the former Huntington Beach resident will get from the judge.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy says she will sentence Jabba the Corrupt to a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 12 years in state prison on March 12.
Rizzo, who was being paid nearly $800,000 annually before he resigned in July 2010, will serve the longest prison term for any defendant convicted of public corruption since the establishment of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Public Integrity Division, according to DA Jackie Lacey.
The open plea to the judge came less than a week before jury selection was scheduled to begin in his trial, and it was not a negotiated settlement with prosecutors, Lacey told City News Service.
“Although we were prepared to go to trial and felt confident we could convict Mr. Rizzo of all charges, we are pleased he chose to admit his guilt and accept full responsibility for the irreparable harm he caused the people of Bell,”' Lacey said.
Trial is still scheduled to begin Monday for Rizzo's co-defendant, former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia.
Some of our favorite past Rizzo headlines:
Robert Rizzo Hog-Tied to E-mails Where Other High-Salaried Bell Officials Admit to Being Piggies
Robert Rizzo Officially Becomes Shitty Surf City Neighbor as Overexposed Home is T.P.'d
You, Too, Can Live Like a Muni-Fleecer: Robert Rizzo's Surf City Home for Sale
Robert Rizzo, Who Helped Create the Mess in Bell, Now Cleaning Messes at Local Thrift Store
Click here for our complete Robert Rizzo archives.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.