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Ron Calderon today agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud, which concretely means he has admitted to allegations of soliciting and receiving bribes for himself and his children, including accepting a bribe from Michael Drobot, the former owner of Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, and from an undercover FBI agent posing as a film executive.

This plea deal means that the former California state senator will avoid a trial that had been scheduled to being in July.  Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), who testified before a grand jury, was expected to be called as a witness by the prosecution.

The Los Angeles Times just quoted De Leon as saying “This closes a sad chapter in the Senate’s history.  We move on.”

Michael Drobot’s son, also named Michael Drobot (Michael R. Drobot as opposed to his father who is Michael D. Drobot), accepted a plea deal last week.  He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and paying kick-backs.   Tom Calderon, Ron Calderon’s older brother, also made a guilty plea deal. Tom admitted to knowingly laundering $25,000 paid from the undercover FBI agents through his consulting company, Calderon Group, Inc.

Under the terms of the deal made by Ron Calderon, prosecutors only agreed to request that U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder sentence Calderon to a maximum of 70 months.  This is the low end of sentencing guidelines, just under six years.   The Los Angeles Times writer Joel Rubin wrote, “He (Ron Calderon) is almost certain to be given a lengthy prison sentence.”

The deal filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles requires Ron Calderon not to contest any of the other allegations prosecutors leveled against him in the 2014 indictment.  Calderon admitted he pressured Michael D. Drobot to hire his son as a paid summer intern in exchange for pushing legislation that would have protected Drobot with his “pass-through” expense spinal hardware.   Calderon admitted as well to having agreed to push a state law that would have provided a tax break for the FBI agents posing as film executives.

The Los Angeles Times wrote “The abrupt resolution to the case was unexpected.”  However, a Sacramento area defense lawyer, Donald Heller, with a similar history of representation, said last week, “It appears that he (Tom Calderon) would be throwing his brother under the bus unless there’s something else coming down the road.”

Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2016, Former state Sen. Ron Calderon to Plead Guilty in Corruption Case. 

lonce@adjustercom.com