Defendant Marcelo Co Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charge in California

A former member of the Moreno Valley City Council has agreed to plead guilty to a federal bribery charge for taking a $2.36 million cash payment from an undercover operative posing as a real estate broker.

Marcelo Co, 64, was charged with one bribery count and one count of filing a false corporate tax return. In court documents filed this morning in United States District Court, Co agreed to plead guilty to the two charges that could send him to federal prison for as long as 13 years.

"Mr. Co orchestrated an elaborate and brazen scheme to undermine the democratic process in Moreno Valley," said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. "Whether he was motivated by power or greed, these crimes constitute a wholesale violation of his oath to work for the citizens who elected him."

Co, who was elected to the City Council in November 2010 and resigned from his seat in August after being charged in state court in an unrelated welfare fraud case, is expected to make his initial court appearance in the federal bribery case early next month.

"It is a very sad day for the citizens of Moreno Valley when one of their elected council members sacrifices his legal and ethical obligations for power and greed," said Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach. "This type of unlawful conduct by Mr. Coe undermines the very fabric of good government and what we all hope and expect from our elected officials."

The case against Co is the result of an ongoing investigation by the Inland Regional Corruption Task Force, which is comprised of prosecutors, agents and investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS – Criminal Investigation, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office.

"Mr. Co regularly traded votes, land and confidential information in exchange for cash to fund his personal bank account, rather than what was in the best interest of the residents of Moreno Valley," said Bill Lewis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. "This case was a result of seamless collaboration by the Inland Regional Corruption Task Force, whose members share a mission of rooting out corruption across the Inland Empire."

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