Montoya May Testify in Probe of Lobbyist
Former state Sen. Joseph B. Montoya, serving a 6 1/2-year sentence on political corruption charges, has been spending the last few nights only a few blocks from his old haunts in the state Capitol.
Federal authorities last Friday moved the former Whittier Democrat from a federal prison facility near Boron in the Mojave Desert to the Sacramento County Jail. Montoya was transferred to Sacramento “for possible grand jury testimony in connection with a pending investigation,” said Jan Lawrence Handzlik, Montoya’s lawyer.
The former lawmaker began serving his sentence in 1990 after his conviction on extortion, racketeering and money-laundering charges. A year later a federal court of appeals overturned the five extortion counts.
Montoya’s move comes as the federal grand jury has been stepping up the pace of its investigation, focusing on lobbyist Clay Jackson.
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