EX-BFI WORKERS, CARSON OFFICIALS INDICTED TARZANA LAWYER ALSO CHARGED IN BRIBERY-EXTORTION CASE.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Former employees of the company that operates Sunshine Canyon Landfill, a Tarzana attorney, and several former and current Carson city elected officials have been indicted in a federal bribery-shakedown case involving a $60 million trash-hauling contract, authorities announced Thursday.

Carson Mayor Daryl Wesley Sweeney - chief of staff for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry - was arrested with Tarzana attorney Robert Dennis Pryce Jr., who delivered tens of thousands of dollars in bribes for Browning-Ferris Industries, U.S. Attorney Debra Yang said.

Douglas Allyn Moore, a former BFI general manager, and former BFI sales and marketing representative David Duane Robinson, also were in custody.

``This web of corruption ranges from corporate executives through middlemen masquerading as political consultants to the very politicians who were lying in wait for a once-in-10-year opportunity,'' Yang said at a news conference Thursday.

``The defendants, some of whom were arrested (Thursday) morning, and others who have agreed to plea guilty, participated in schemes involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes.''

Yang said her office is not prosecuting BFI, the firm at the center of the controversy over Los Angeles city officials' decision to reopen Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills over community objections, because the corporation agreed to fully participate in the two-year investigation.

``As members of the president's corporate fraud task force, one thing we advocate is that in instances where a corporation fully cooperates, they will not be charged, and this is a prime example of that instance,'' Yang said.

BFI spokesman Don Swierenga said the company applauds the U.S. Attorney's Office for its strong action to address the bribery scandal.

``The indictments handed down (Thursday) name certain individuals who were formerly employed by BFI in connection with the Carson contract,'' Swierenga said. ``These employees were terminated after BFI's own internal investigation disclosed evidence that they acted in a manner outside BFI's corporate standards of conduct.''

Los Angeles Councilwoman Perry said she has placed Sweeney on administrative leave until the matter is resolved.

``Daryl Sweeney is an excellent chief of staff,'' Perry said. ``I have been and will remain supportive of him and his family. By putting him on leave, I do not attempt to judge the situation, but know that it is the appropriate action to take and will enable my office to be fully operational without distraction.''

After initially asking for nearly $2 million, Yang said, a three-member voting majority on the Carson City Council led by Sweeney agreed to vote in favor of granting the trash hauling contract to BFI, whose officials agreed to pay $500,000 in bribes.

The indictment names three co-conspirators, who have agreed to plead guilty to charges related to trash-hauling corruption schemes, including Carson City Councilwoman Raunda Frank, 39; consultant and former Inglewood City Councilman Garland Hardeman, 46; and Montebello resident Michael Aloyan, 41, owner of Hub City Disposal in Compton.

Former Carson City Councilman Manuel Ontal, 38, has agreed to plead guilty to taking a bribe for supporting the extension of a bus service contract.

Former Carson Mayor Pete Fajardo was also arrested Thursday after being indicted on federal corruption charges for allegedly offering votes as a member of the City Council in exchange for more than $100,000 in bribes. Fajardo, who served a four-year term as mayor of Carson, is charged with extorting about $50,000 from the owner of an apartment complex in Carson who needed financial assistance from the city to continue making half the units available to low-income seniors.

The bribery schemes surround the trash-hauling contract Carson awarded to BFI in February. The indictment alleges that in early 2001, Sweeney attempted to recruit Frank to join a conspiracy ``to get paid'' in relation to the awarding of the contract, one of the biggest and most lucrative awarded by the city.

In early 2001, Hardeman allegedly contacted Waste Management Inc. to solicit ``performance fees'' if Carson awarded the firm the contract. Later, Pryce proposed to Waste Management that it pay $600,000 if the contract was awarded. Waste Management refused to pay the money.

Sweeney, in association with Frank and Ontal, allegedly used Pryce to solicit a $600,000 bribe from BFI in exchange for the three votes needed on the Carson City Council to award the contract. In late 2001, Pryce informed Ontal that he had secured an agreement from BFI to pay approximately $600,000 if the contract was awarded to BFI.

In January, Pryce allegedly delivered $10,000 in ``upfront'' payments from BFI to Sweeney and Ontal, and a $5,000 payment to Frank.

On Feb. 19, Sweeney, Ontal and Frank voted at a City Council meeting to award the contract to BFI. That contract would bring BFI about $60 million over the 10-year life of the contract.

After the vote, the indictment alleges that Moore and Robinson of BFI arranged for two $15,000 payments - the first two of a planned 36 monthly installments - that were split among the three council members. The contract with BFI was rescinded by the Carson City Council in April, when Ontal joined the two council members who were not part of the bribery scheme to overturn the contract.

Pryce, a Tarzana attorney who serves as a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee, was arrested and accused of taking kickbacks from professionals he hired to perform work on behalf of estates in bankruptcy proceedings.

The indictment alleges that Pryce entered into an agreement with real estate agent Nelson Shelton to sell properties from various estates over which Pryce was the trustee. As part of the agreement, the indictment says, Shelton agreed to hire Pryce's daughter, Kelly Walecki, and to pay her one-half of the commissions generated by the sales of the properties even though she would not be involved in the transactions. When she was hired, Walecki was not licensed to work as a real estate professional.

During a three-year period that began in May 1999, Shelton paid Walecki more than $310,000 in commissions, and she in turn gave her father more than $130,000 of this money, according to the indictment.

Pryce is also accused of taking kickbacks from Scorza and Sons Construction Services in exchange for giving the company work on various properties that were part of the bankruptcy estates under his management.

In one example, Scorza and Sons was paid about $1.3 million for work done on a Beverly Hills property, and the company kicked back to Pryce about $170,000. The indictment also charges that Pryce required Scorza to perform work for free at his home and the homes of his mother and sister.