By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Democrat California State Senator Ronald S. Calderon, a perennial anti-gunner from Montebello, will face corruption charges for which he was indicted in February, and to which he has entered a not guilty plea through attorney Mark Geragos.
Calderon’s brother, former state Assemblyman Thomas Calderon also faces criminal charges.
Published reports say Sen. Calderon is alleged to have accepted cash bribes totaling $100,000 and other gratuities in exchange for supporting “legislation that benefited a Long Beach hospital owner and a Hollywood studio owner.” That studio owner turned out to be an undercover FBI agent, published reports indicated.
Thomas Calderon faces charges of conspiracy and money laundering, the Los Angeles Daily News and Los Angeles Times reported.
Their voting records on firearms legislation is not connected to these allegations.
Senator Calderon surrendered to federal authorities in Los Angeles three days after the indictment was handed down. He appeared in federal court later the same day to enter his plea.
The full slate of charges against Calderon are staggering. He is accused of wire fraud, bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, fraud, money laundering, “honest services fraud” and aiding in the filing of false tax returns, according to KTLA News.
Calderon said he would not step down from his Senate seat. If convicted on all counts, he could face nearly 400 years in prison.
Calderon has backed all sorts of gun control measures during his time in the legislature. He has voted to ban semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines, he supported legislation banning lead ammunition for hunting and to require background checks to buy ammunition.
He could go to trial in April, but that could be postponed.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Calderon indictments “arose out of two separate investigations.” One involved the FBI’s public corruption squad in Los Angeles and the other was done by the healthcare fraud task force in Santa Ana. The investigations “converged” on Sen. Calderon, the newspaper said.
Calderon’s offices in Sacramento were raided by FBI investigators in June of last year, and on the same day, the FBI also raided the state Latino Legislative Caucus office, where Calderon has been serving as vice chairman. He was suspended from committee assignments in November.
Calderon’s family is considered a political dynasty in Southern California. His family has been involved in state politics for three decades, and he replaced his brother, Tom, in the Assembly in 2002. When Ron Calderon was elected to the state Senate in 2006, another brother, Charles, was elected to fill the Assembly seat. Charles’ son, Ian, also serves in the Assembly, the Los Angeles Times noted.
