Former Compton City Councilman Isaac Galvan pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges of bribing the Baldwin Park City Council, paying $70,000 in lieu of City Marijuana permits.
Galvan, who had a consulting job, was involved in a scheme where he made a bribe to Councilman Ricardo Pacheco from one of Galvan’s clients who wanted a permit for a costume in Baldwin Park.
Galvan, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery and one count of tax evasion for failing to report more than half a million dollars.
He served on the Compton City Council from 2013 to 2022, when he lost his seat amid a massive voting scandal that led to an election fraud.
In 2017, Baldwin Park began allowing the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana within its city limits. Then-Councilman Pacheco was soliciting bribes from businesses seeking marijuana development agreements and related permits in the city, according to court documents.
In exchange for illegal payments, Pacheco, a member of the council until 2020, agreed to use his position to get a serious amount of marijuana approved, the documents say.
Galvan, who represented W & F International Corp.
According to the plea agreement, Galvan helped Pacheco claim $70,000 from YiChang Bai, 52, of Arcadia, the owner and supplier of W&F. Bai pleaded guilty to charges that he helped found the bribery scheme, and his case is set to go to trial in February.
Galvan paid bribes in support of Pacheco’s political support and the Council’s promise to bring the Baldwin Park Marijuana approval of the W & F permit. Pacheco was then brought in, the vote was approved for the Marijuana park permit in June and July of 2018 and, later that year, the vote was approved for W & F’s bid to move its operations to the city.
Prosecutors said Galvan and Bai took steps to cover up their illegal payments to Pacheco by concealing Bai’s connection to W & F for those payments. According to the plea agreement, Bai collected checks from third parties who owed him money and then, at Galvan’s direction, gave them to Galvan through Blank Payee lines. Galvan then gave the checks to Pacheko, who arranged for them to be confused, either by himself or by third parties, court records show.
Shortly after the votes to approve the relocation of W & F, Pacheco contacted Galvan and asked him to get more money from W & F for legal aid. Galvan told Balvan that Pacheco wanted $25,000 for his fundraiser, but Bai insisted on paying $20,000, according to the plea agreement.
Bai provided a total of seven checks from different bank accounts that did not belong to Bai or W & F, court documents state. Galvan arranged for the checks to be sent to Pacheco as a multiplier in exchange for his votes and support for W & F’s Marijuana license.
Galvan was included in his plea agreement that he failed to file individual tax returns for the years 2017 to 2020, to avoid an assessment of the federal tax he owes in several ways. Galvan failed to report $560,525 in tax revenue from 2017 to 2020, resulting in a total loss to the US Treasury of $115,816. He agreed to pay $323,557 in restitution to the IRS.
US District Judge Otis D. Wright scheduled for June 8, 2026, Galvan will face a statutory sentence of 10 years in prison in Braval on the Federal Count to Count.
Pacheco pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one count of bribery after an FBI sting in which a Baldwin Park police officer received less than $38,000 in exchange for political support from a union member and the city.
As part of the plea agreement, Pacheco agreed to cooperate with the federal investigation into the bribery scheme.
Galvan defended his last City of Compton election by one vote, but four of the votes cast for him were disqualified after a judge found that the ballots were cast by people running for Council.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Galvan and six others with conspiracy to commit election fraud.
According to the district attorney’s office, Galvan conspired with one of his opponents in the primary election, Jace Dawson, to send voters who lived outside the Assembly district to vote for Galvan.
