The felony conviction this week of former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley for misusing public money gave Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley a high-profile victory in his campaign to clean up local corruption -- and win reelection.
With less than three weeks before the March 2 election, Cooley said the guilty verdicts in the Bradley case prove his ability to prosecute public officials who commit crimes.
"I think there are people out there that are going, 'Am I next?' " Cooley said in an interview. "This conviction and many others will go a long way in hopefully deterring individuals from committing criminal acts."
Cooley's challengers in the race for district attorney accuse him of failing to root out corrupt city officials.
"It isn't enough to pluck a bad apple," said Nick Pacheco, a former prosecutor and Los Angeles city councilman who is running against Cooley. "Cooley doesn't have a plan to bring good government to these cities."
The Compton case was a significant win for the D.A.'s public integrity division, which Cooley created in 2001 to prosecute corruption within governments and public agencies.
Prosecutors have filed 70 cases and won 59 convictions against public officials, ranging from embezzlement to voter fraud. There are also 108 active investigations.
Bradley, along with former Compton City Councilman Amen Rahh and former City Manager John Johnson, were taken away in handcuffs Tuesday after a jury found them guilty of misappropriating public funds. Each faces a possible five-year prison term. Former City Councilwoman Delores Zurita and Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux were acquitted.
Political consultants said the success in the Compton corruption case could help Cooley by adding a win to his record and showing the public that, despite criticism to the contrary, he was willing to take on a tough case.
"In more ways than one, it was a good conviction," said consultant Joe Cerrell.
Consultants said they believed it would be difficult for Cooley's opponents to push him into a runoff on March 2, in part because the district attorney has raised more than $940,000. As of Jan. 17, his five opponents combined had raised roughly $60,000, according to the county registrar's office.
The challengers for the nonpartisan office besides Pacheco are, Head Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Higgins, Deputy Dist. Atty. Denise Moehlman, former Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony Patchett and public law attorney Roger Carrick.
