Former Vernon Administrator Pleads Guilty to Misappropriation
By EGP & City News Service
Former Vernon city administrator Bruce Malkenhorst Sr. pleaded guilty today to a charge of misappropriating public funds.
The plea comes on the same day Vernon’s City Council moved to respond to ongoing accusations of public corruption by adopting a number of government reform measures current City Administrator Mark Whitworth said are meant to establish a “more open, transparent and inclusive governance structure.”
A bill by Assembly Speaker Jose Perez intended to discorporate the small, mostly industrial city, has passed the Assembly and is working its way through the Senate.
Malkenhorst Sr. is one of several Vernon officials who have been charged with public wrongdoing.
Following his plea, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy immediately sentenced
Malkenhorst, 76, to three years on formal probation and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine and $60,000 in restitution to the city of Vernon.
A second count of misappropriation of public funds was dismissed as a result of his plea.
Deputy District Attorney Sean Hassett said Malkenhorst had the city illegally reimburse him for $60,000, including eight $99 political contributions and various personal expenses, such as golf, massages, a personal trainer and a home security system.
He is the second former Vernon official to be convicted in recent years in a criminal case.
Leonis Malburg — who was mayor of Vernon for more than 50 years, and whose family founded the city — was convicted in December 2009 of charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, voter registration fraud, false voter registration and perjury under oath.
Malburg’s wife, Dominica, was convicted of conspiracy, false voter registration and fraudulent voting.
After a non-jury trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson found that the couple did not live in Vernon. The judge said Malburg knew he was ineligible to be a candidate and knew he and his wife were ineligible to vote in the city.
Malburg was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $579,000 in fines and restitution, while his wife was ordered to serve three years on probation and pay $36,000 in fines and penalty assessments.
Malburg and his wife have filed an appeal, which is pending in California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal.
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May 26, 2011 Copyright © 2012 Eastern Group Publications, Inc.
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