Albert T. Robles is an American politician and former mayor, councilman,

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, and deputy city manager for the City of

South Gate, California South Gate is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, with . It is located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. South Gate is part of the Gateway Cities region of southeastern Los Angeles County. The city was incorporated on J ...

. In 2005, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 10 years in federal

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

Political career

Robles graduated from the

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...

and became an aide to a legislator. In 1991, Robles became the youngest mayor of South Gate at the age of 26. In 1992, he was elected to the South Gate City Council by a predominantly Mexican-American electorate. In 2002, Robles was appointed by the City Council to the Deputy City Manager position. In 2003, Robles was recalled along with Mayor Xochitl Ruvalcaba, Vice Mayor Raul Moriel, and Councilwoman Maria Benavides in an election that was monitored by

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

by order of Governor

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 until he was recalled and removed from office in 2003. He is the second state governor ...

. Robles retained his position as Deputy City Manager. In 2005, he was convicted on federal corruption charges then sentenced the following year to 10 years in prison.

Criminal charges and conviction

Robles was accused of making threatening statements to State Senator Martha Escutia and Assemblyman

Marco Firebaugh Marco Antonio Firebaugh (October 13, 1966 – March 21, 2006) was a Democratic member of the California State Assembly from 1998 until 2004. Early life and education Born in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, Firebaugh received a B.A. degree ...

. He was tried in 2002 but all charges were dismissed when the jury deadlocked on all counts. His attorney argued that his statements were merely the kind of language typical of South Gate politicians and not literal threats. Robles was indicted on federal

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

charges in 2004. This stemmed from his award of contracts worth millions to friends and business associates as well as funneling money through the awarded contracts to himself and family members. He was found guilty of 30 counts of

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

, and depriving the electorate. He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay the city of South Gate $639,000 in restitution.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robles, Albert Year of birth missing (living people) Living people California city council members Mayors of places in California University of California, Los Angeles alumni People from South Gate, California California politicians convicted of crimes