For more than two decades, Ricardo Pacheco held a seat of public trust in Baldwin Park, California — and for a significant portion of that time, he appears to have treated that seat as a private marketplace. Sentenced this week to eighteen months in federal prison, the 63-year-old former councilman joins a long lineage of local officials who mistook proximity to power for immunity from accountability. What the FBI found buried in his backyard — nearly $63,000 in cash — stands as a quiet, damning symbol of what happens when civic office becomes a vehicle for private accumulation rather than pub
California councilman sentenced to 18 months for burying bribes in backyard
He buried money in his backyard and routed bribes through his church.
Mark
So Pacheco was burying money in his backyard—was that just paranoia, or was he actively hiding it from someone?
Mimi
The source doesn't say why he chose to bury it. What we know is that he had multiple payment streams: direct cash handoffs, checks routed through his church, checks through political groups in other people's names. The backyard burial might have been one more layer of concealment, or it might have been where he kept cash he wasn't sure how to move yet.
Luke
Right—and we should be clear: the FBI found $62,900 buried. Pacheco admitted to burying it. But the source doesn't explain his reasoning or what he was afraid of. That's a gap.
Mark
The police officer who handed him the $20,000 at the coffee shop—was that officer corrupt too, or was he working undercover the whole time?
Mimi
He was working undercover. He and another officer approached the FBI first, asking to help with the corruption investigation. So they were the ones who initiated contact with federal agents and then became part of the sting operation.
Luke
That's important context. The officers weren't part of the scheme—they were the ones who blew the whistle. The source is clear on that.
Mark
How did Pacheco go from being caught on video to wearing a wire for the FBI? That seems like a big pivot.
Mimi
Once he was caught on the video at the coffee shop, he had leverage against him. He agreed to cooperate rather than face trial. That cooperation—the wire he wore—is what led to the six indictments and the twenty-plus people implicated.
Luke
The source doesn't say whether he negotiated a lighter sentence in exchange for cooperation, or whether the eighteen months was what he would have gotten anyway. That's something we don't know.
Mark
And Galvan—he was a Compton councilman helping with a Baldwin Park permit scheme. How did that even work?
Mimi
Galvan offered consulting services to the marijuana company. He was the middleman between the business owner and Pacheco. He facilitated the bribes, told the owner what Pacheco wanted, and arranged the payments through third-party checks to obscure the trail.
Luke
The source says Galvan "offered consulting services," but it doesn't say whether the company actually paid him for those services, or whether his payment came from somewhere else. That's unclear.
Mark
The marijuana permit scheme—was this unique to Baldwin Park, or was it happening in other cities too?
Mimi
The investigation touched multiple cities: Compton, Commerce, San Bernardino County. But the source only details the marijuana scheme in Baldwin Park. It's possible there were similar schemes elsewhere, but we only have specifics for Baldwin Park.
Luke
Exactly. The indictments involved more than twenty people, but the source only names Pacheco, Galvan, and Bai. We don't know what the other eighteen people were charged with or whether they were involved in marijuana permits, police contracts, or something else entirely.
Der Puls
- A single undercover FBI operation inside a Baldwin Park coffee shop cracked open a corruption network that had quietly operated for years beneath the surface of routine city council votes.
- Pacheco didn't just pocket cash — he buried it in his backyard, routed bribes through his church and shell political committees, and voted on the very contracts he was being paid to approve.
- What began as a police union contract investigation metastasized into a sprawling web implicating more than twenty people across multiple cities, industries, and layers of local government.
- Pacheco agreed to cooperate and wear a wire, helping federal agents build six indictments — a bargain that still ended with an eighteen-month prison sentence, a $219,755 forfeiture, and a forced resignation from the council he had occupied for over two decades.
- His co-conspirators fared no better: a Compton councilman received an identical sentence and a $323,557 restitution order, while the marijuana company owner who bankrolled the bribes was sentenced to twenty months in federal prison.
For more than two decades, Ricardo Pacheco held a seat of public trust in Baldwin Park, California — and for a significant portion of that time, he appears to have treated that seat as a private marketplace. Sentenced this week to eighteen months in federal prison, the 63-year-old former councilman joins a long lineage of local officials who mistook proximity to power for immunity from accountability. What the FBI found buried in his backyard — nearly $63,000 in cash — stands as a quiet, damning symbol of what happens when civic office becomes a vehicle for private accumulation rather than public service.
Ricardo Pacheco served more than twenty years on the Baldwin Park City Council before federal prosecutors unraveled what he had apparently been doing for much of that time. On Friday, a federal judge sentenced the 63-year-old to eighteen months in prison for his role in a corruption scheme that wound through police contracts, marijuana permits, and the basic machinery of local government.
The investigation began with a police union deal. Between January and October 2018, Pacheco solicited nearly $38,000 from a Baldwin Park police officer — who was working undercover for the FBI — in exchange for his support of a police association contract worth at least $4.4 million. The pivotal moment came at a local coffee shop, where the officer handed Pacheco $20,000 in an envelope. The exchange was recorded on video. Pacheco had already voted for the contract months earlier and had directed additional payments to his church and to political action committees that existed in other people's names but answered to him.
Rather than face trial, Pacheco agreed to cooperate and wore a concealed wire, helping federal agents build cases that eventually produced six indictments involving more than twenty people connected to local government and the marijuana industry across Baldwin Park, Compton, Commerce, and San Bernardino County.
The second major thread involved marijuana permits. When Baldwin Park opened its doors to cannabis businesses in 2017, Pacheco began soliciting payments from companies seeking development agreements. A Compton councilman, Isaac Jacob Galvan, helped funnel $70,000 in bribes from marijuana company owner Yichang Bai to Pacheco in exchange for favorable votes. Payments were obscured through third-party checks, some with blank payee lines. When Pacheco later needed money for his legal defense, Galvan arranged an additional $20,000 from Bai, drawn from bank accounts that belonged to neither man.
When FBI agents searched Pacheco's property, they found $62,900 buried in two separate locations in his backyard. The court ordered him to forfeit $219,755 and pay a $10,000 fine. Galvan received an identical eighteen-month sentence and was ordered to pay over $323,000 in restitution, while Bai was sentenced to twenty months in federal prison. Pacheco had resigned from the council in 2020 as part of his plea agreement — the quiet end of a tenure that federal prosecutors described as the weaponization of elected office for personal gain.
Ricardo Pacheco spent more than twenty years on the Baldwin Park City Council before federal prosecutors caught him doing what he had apparently done for years: accepting bribes in cash, burying money in his backyard, and routing payments through institutions that bore his fingerprints but carried other people's names. On Friday, a federal judge sentenced the 63-year-old to eighteen months in prison for his role in a sprawling corruption scheme that touched police contracts, marijuana permits, and the basic machinery of local government.
The scheme unraveled through a police union deal. Between January and October 2018, Pacheco solicited and received $37,900 from a Baldwin Park police officer in exchange for his support of the Baldwin Park Police Association's contract with the city—a deal worth at least $4.4 million over three years. The officer was working undercover at the FBI's direction. In October 2018, at a Baldwin Park coffee shop, the officer handed Pacheco a $20,000 bribe in an envelope. Pacheco also directed $17,900 in checks to his church and to political action committees that existed in other people's names but answered to him. He voted for the police contract in March 2018.
The coffee shop meeting was recorded. Pacheco was caught on video, and rather than face trial, he agreed to cooperate. He wore a concealed wire as federal agents built cases that would eventually lead to six indictments involving more than twenty people connected to local government and the marijuana industry. The investigation reached beyond Baldwin Park into Compton, Commerce, and San Bernardino County.
The second major thread of the corruption involved marijuana permits. When Baldwin Park began allowing marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution in 2017, Pacheco saw an opportunity. He began soliciting money from businesses seeking development agreements and permits. A Compton city councilman named Isaac Jacob Galvan, 39, offered consulting services to W&F International Corp., a Diamond Bar import-export company that wanted to operate in Baldwin Park. Galvan then helped facilitate $70,000 in bribes from the company's owner, Yichang Bai, to Pacheco in exchange for the councilman's votes and political support. The payments were obscured through checks from third parties, some with blank payee lines. Pacheco voted in favor of W&F's permit in June and July 2018 and later backed the company's effort to relocate. When Pacheco later needed money for his legal defense, Galvan told Bai the councilman wanted $25,000. Bai agreed to provide $20,000 through seven checks drawn from bank accounts that were not his own or the company's.
The FBI's search of Pacheco's property revealed the full scope of his financial maneuvering. Agents seized $83,145 in cash proceeds from him, including $62,900 that Pacheco admitted he had buried in two separate locations in his backyard. The court ordered him to forfeit $219,755 and pay a $10,000 fine. A restitution hearing remains to be scheduled. Galvan received an identical eighteen-month sentence and was ordered to pay $323,557 in restitution. He also admitted to failing to report approximately $560,525 in income to the IRS from 2017 through 2020, resulting in a tax loss of $115,816. Yichang Bai, the marijuana company owner, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and was sentenced in July to twenty months in federal prison and a $3,000 fine.
Pacheco resigned from the Baldwin Park City Council in 2020 as part of his plea agreement. The investigation that began with a single police union contract ultimately exposed a network of corruption spanning multiple cities and industries, with federal prosecutors describing the conduct as corrupt acts carried out by elected officials who weaponized their offices for personal gain.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Pacheco and Galvan carried out corrupt acts while they were elected officials, including accepting and paying bribes for political support and city permits.— Department of Justice
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