Former Mayor Gets 3 Years’ Probation

Former San Fernando mayor and parks director Jess Margarito was sentenced this week to three years’ probation for crediting convicts with community service work they never performed.

The longtime community activist was the target of a three-year investigation by the San Fernando Police Department that ended in March with prosecutors filing felony forgery charges that could have resulted in more than four years of jail time.

At his sentencing Tuesday, Margarito was also required to complete 200 hours of community service. If he successfully complies with the conditions of his probation, Margarito may be eligible to have the felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor after six months--making it possible for him to run for public office again, said Margarito’s lawyer, Arthur Goldberg.

In a plea agreement reached with prosecutors last month, Margarito, 49, pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of conspiring to submit fraudulent community service papers, Goldberg said. The initial complaint alleged that between April 1992, and December 1993, Margarito signed documents verifying work for three convicted criminals that was never performed. The City Council fired Margarito from his parks job in January 1994, after details of the investigation became public.

Goldberg said his client’s prosecution was politically motivated and that Margarito reluctantly accepted the plea bargain to avoid the “emotional drain” of a trial.

“Yes, technically there was a violation of the law, but was this a scheme, a plot to obtain kickbacks? No,” said Goldberg.

“This was a political witch hunt the way he was singled out,” said Goldberg, who claimed San Fernando officials were jealous of Margarito’s success in improving the city’s recreation department.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Seki) said Margarito was offered a light sentence because of his lack of a criminal record, his early guilty plea, and the fact that the city suffered no serious financial loss.

He dismissed Goldberg’s claim that politics played a role in Margarito’s prosecution.

“Our decisions were made independent of any political entity whatsoever,” Seki said. “There was absolutely no political influence on me or anyone else in this office affecting how this case was resolved.”