Ralph Inzunza (born c. 1969) is a former

city councilman A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. He was elected in March 2001 to represent City Council District 8. He resigned in July 2005 along with Councilman

Michael Zucchet Michael J. Zucchet (born December 24, 1969) is an American Democratic politician, a former member of the San Diego City Council, and a former Deputy Mayor of San Diego. In 2005, he briefly served as the Acting Mayor of San Diego. Early life and ...

after both were convicted on federal corruption charges. The conviction against Zucchet was overturned on November 10, 2005, citing lack of evidence. However, the convictions against the two co-defendants were upheld.

Personal life

Inzunza graduated from Saint Augustine High School in San Diego in 1987. He comes from a political family. His father, Ralph Inzunza Sr., was a city councilman in National City and his brother Nick served as National City mayor.

City Council

Inzunza served as chief of staff to his predecessor as city councilman,

Juan Vargas Juan Carlos Vargas (born March 7, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who has been the U.S. representative for California since 2013. His district includes all of Imperial County and the southernmost portions of San Diego County. ...

. Vargas resigned in 2001 after being elected to the California State Assembly and Inzunza won in a special election to replace him, receiving 70 percent of the vote. He was re-elected to a full term in the 2002 elections. One of Inzunza's first actions as a city councilman was to challenge the way Mayor

Dick Murphy Richard M. Murphy (born December 16, 1942) is a former American politician who served as the 33rd mayor of San Diego, California from 2000 to 2005. Early life Murphy was born 1942 in Oak Park, Illinois. He was captain of the varsity basketbal ...

was making appointments to an Ethics Committee. The mayor eventually agreed to give the City Council more of a role in the process. Murphy later named him Deputy Mayor and appointed him to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Inzunza also fought against the expansion of a homeless facility in his district. SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro - Ralph Inzunza, city councilman

Federal charges

Inzunza and two other city councilmen, Charles L. Lewis and

, were indicted on August 23, 2003, on federal charges of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for taking campaign contributions from a strip club owner and his associates, allegedly in exchange for trying to repeal the city's "no touch" laws at strip clubs. Inzunza and Zucchet were convicted by a jury on July 18, 2005; the conviction forced them both to resign from the city council. Inzunza filed multiple appeals for the next six years while working as a consultant for nonprofit agencies. Finally in January 2012 his final appeal was denied and he was ordered to start serving a 21-month prison sentence. Zucchet's conviction was overturned November 10, 2005 and on September 1, 2009, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Zucchet's acquittals emphasizing the lack of evidence against him. Inzunza served time in a federal penitentiary in

Atwater, California Atwater is a city on State Route 99 in Merced County, California, United States. Atwater is west-northwest of Merced, at an elevation of . The population as of the 2020 census was 31,970, up from 28,168 in 2010. Geography Atwater is in northe ...

and was released in April 2013.

References

Living people 1960s births San Diego City Council members California politicians convicted of crimes {{California-politician-stub