Carson Mayor Daryl W. Sweeney pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from waste haulers competing for a $60-million city contract and pledged to cooperate with federal prosecutors probing other political corruption schemes in Southern California.
Sweeney, 45, faces about 10 years in prison, which Asst. U.S. Atty. John Hueston said would set a record for a California public corruption case.
As part of his plea agreement, Sweeney agreed to resign immediately as mayor, a part-time post. He previously resigned as full-time chief of staff to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry.
Hueston said that Sweeney is already cooperating with prosecutors and that "we hope he will help us develop new and different cases of political corruption" beyond Carson. Hueston declined to be more specific.
Sweeney, who remains free on bond pending sentencing in October, declined to answer reporters' questions after his court appearance but issued a written statement, saying: "I want to apologize to the good citizens of Carson who elected me and who placed their trust in me. I have failed you."
Sweeney became the ninth defendant, the second mayor and the fourth member of the City Council to plead guilty in the Carson corruption case. Pete Fajardo, who preceded Sweeney as mayor, previously admitted that he had extorted $50,000 from the owner of a low-income senior citizen housing project in return for approval of a city grant that would have lowered the owner's mortgage.
City Councilman Raunda Frank previously pleaded guilty to extortion in the waste-hauling scheme and Councilman Manuel Ontal to taking a bribe for supporting the extension of a bus-service contract. Both have resigned.
Federal prosecutors said they had been looking into tips about possible Carson corruption in 2000 when Ontal walked into their offices unbidden, confessed wrongdoing and agreed to cooperate in nabbing others. Ontal subsequently wore a secret recording device for meetings with Sweeney and others who were set to award the long-term, exclusive waste-hauling contract for the city of 90,000.
The largest garbage hauler in the country, Waste Management, had held the contract and was the low bidder for renewal. But Sweeney admitted that he and his cohorts decided to make the company pay for their votes, according to his plea agreement filed in court.
Sweeney decided to use a middleman through whom the payoffs would be funneled, the plea agreement said.
