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Thursday, August 27-September 02, 2026
VOL. 14,
NO. 290
Former Baldwin Park, Compton councilmen Arcadia council denies members' requests for transparency hearings heading to prison in bribery schemes By Joe Taglieri
By Staff
joet@civicnewsgroup.com
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Baldwin Park City Hall. | Photo courtesy of the city of Baldwin Park
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x-city council members for Baldwin Park and Compton received 18-month prison sentences Monday for their roles in separate bribery cases. According to federal prosecutors, former Compton Councilman Isaac Galvan, 39, pleaded guilty in December in downtown Los Angeles to one count each of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and tax evasion. Galvan admits in his plea agreement to bribing ex-Baldwin Park Councilman Ricardo Pacheco in a corruption scheme to secure commercial cannabis permits. Along with the federal prison term, Galvan was ordered to pay restitution of $323,557, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Galvan, who served on the Compton City Council from 2013 to May 2022, bribed then-Councilman Pacheco with $70,000 for the permits, according to Galvan's plea
agreement. In June 2020 Pacheco pleaded guilty to an unrelated federal bribery charge and agreed to cooperate with an FBI corruption investigation that centered around approval of a police union contract. In addition to the prison term, the former Baldwin Park councilman was fined $10,000 Monday and ordered to forfeit $219,755. The amount Pacheco will pay in restitution will be determined later, prosecutors said. Co-defendant Yichang Bai, 52, of Arcadia, pleaded guilty to a federal charge and in July was sentenced to 20 months in prison and a $3,000 fine. Bai owns and operates the Diamond Barbased import-export business W&F International Corp., which hired Galvan as a consultant. The marijuana permits case stems from June 2017, when Baldwin Park began permitting cannabis culti-
vation, manufacturing and retail businesses within city limits. Shortly afterward, Pacheco started soliciting bribes from businesses seeking marijuana development agreements and related permits in the city, according to court documents. In exchange for the bribes, Pacheco agreed to use his position in city government to help the companies obtain marijuana permits, including voting in their favor, according to prosecutors. Galvan first paid Pacheco $10,000 in August 2017 to secure Pacheco's support for a future consulting client's marijuana permit. After securing W&F as a client, Galvan facilitated $70,000 in bribes from Bai to Pacheco. Pacheco, 63, of Baldwin Park, was on the City Council from 1997 until he resigned in June 2020. Galvan paid the bribes in exchange for Pacheco's
political support and promise to deliver Baldwin Park's approval of marijuana permits for W&F, according to prosecutors. Pacheco then voted to approve W&F's cannabis business permit and later voted in favor of Bai's bid to relocate its operations, court documents show. Shortly after the votes to approve W&F’s move, Pacheco contacted Galvan and asked him to obtain more money from W&F for his legal defense fund, prosecutors said. Galvan told Bai that Pacheco wanted $25,000 for his fundraiser, but Bai insisted on $20,000 and provided seven checks from different bank accounts that did not belong to Bai or his business. Galvan arranged for the checks to be delivered to Pacheco as further payment in exchange for his votes and support of W&F’s marijuana permit.
See Bribery schemes Page 35
mid the Arcadia City Council's efforts to reorganize following the resignation of Mayor Eileen Wang, an admitted intelligence operative for China, the majority of members denied colleagues' recent requests for public hearings about foreigngovernment influence in local politics and a defeated lawsuit over the censure last year of Councilwoman Sharon Kwan. At the last council meeting Aug. 18, Kwan asked for a future meeting agenda item to discuss questions about recently disclosed connections between Arcadia council members and a media company with ties to the People's Republic of China that was raided by the FBI in late July. "For years, I have warned that foreign influence in local politics is real and should be taken seriously," Kwan said in an email to HeySoCal.com. "When I spoke about (Chinese Communist Party) influence during my swearing-in, some people dismissed my concerns. Now I believe it is time to ask the questions I have been asking for years. ... "My concern is simple: Who is influencing our elected officials? Where is the money coming from? And what does the public not know? Campaign records show financial connections between Arcadia council members and EDI Media, a West Covina company that owns Chineselanguage radio and television stations, print publications,
websites and an advertising agency, according to EDI's website. Mayor Paul Cheng received $2,500 from EDI owner James Su during Cheng's 2024 campaign for the District 4 council seat. Councilman Michael Cao paid EDI $17,468 in 2024 for "broadcast air time and production costs," financial disclosure documents show. Wang received $500 from Su during her 2022 campaign and paid EDI $1,288 for air time and production, records show. Candidate Jason J. Lee also paid $1,288 to EDI for "campaign ads," according to his disclosure documents. "Cheng has also spent campaign money advertising through Chinese-language media and has appeared frequently on these platforms," Kwan observed, adding that "none of this alone proves wrongdoing. But now that James Su and EDI Media are involved in a federal investigation, the public deserves to know the full extent of these relationships." Cheng said Kwan's request last week was "duplicative" of action the council took July 21. "At our previous study session, I introduced a motion directing city staff to review Arcadia’s existing policies concerning foreign-government influence and evaluate whether any additional safeguards would strengthen the integrity of our city government," Cheng said via email. "The motion received support
See Arcadia council Page 19