By Richard Winton, LOS ANGELES TIMES

LOS ANGELES - When the  green wash  of legalized marijuana was sweeping across California a decade ago, one local official tried to style himself as a gatekeeper for the new industry.

Ricardo Pacheco, a Baldwin Park city council member at the time, began meeting with other elected officials and new marijuana sellers, offering his services to smooth the regulatory challenges and foster investment, prosecutors alleged.

Authorities determined Pacheco was soliciting bribes and dug up $62,000 buried in his backyard in a search early in the case, marking the beginning of a sprawling corruption scandal that has spread through several communities. Pacheco wore a wire, resulting in six indictments involving more than 20 participants.

In August, the corruption scandal hit a milestone when Pacheco and another member of the scheme were sentenced.

Pacheco got up to 18 months in prison for bribery. Isaac Galvan, a former Compton city council member, got 18 months for facilitating bribes on Pacheco's behalf. Pacheco agreed to forfeit almost $219,755 in illegal proceeds as part of his plea agreement, and Galvan agreed to pay $323,557.

Authorities said investigations related to the pot business in local cities are continuing.

Court records show the wrongdoing began when Baldwin Park started permitting cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and distribution in 2017. Almost immediately, Pacheco began soliciting bribes from businesses seeking marijuana development agreements and related permits in the city, prosecutors alleged in court documents.

In 2018, the FBI captured Pacheco in a video-recorded sting at a coffee shop, accepting bribes - $20,000 in cash as well as another $17,000 in contributions to his church and political activities - to vote for a police contract. The bureau then turned him into an informant.

Over the next few years, Pacheco wheeled and dealed his way through the San Gabriel Valley while wearing a concealed wire for agents, uncovering a scheme that would lead to charges and convictions for a half-dozen players in local government and a mariju

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