BALDWIN PARK – A Los Angeles cannabis company owner is $1.9 million richer after a judge found the city of Baldwin Park and some of its officials committed fraud in its cannabis permit process.
The $1.9 million is to be paid by the City AND individual politicians attached to the case – $1.6 million in damages from the current and former officials, and $290,000 from the city of Baldwin Park.
David Ju received the favorable verdict earlier this month after a jury agreed the local politicians had committed fraud during the city’s cannabis licensing process.
Ju’s civil case centered around his attempt to license a cannabis business in Baldwin Park, with his lawsuit alleging that “a conspiracy amongst greedy and corrupt city Officials and Politicians” defrauded him.
The officials connected to the cannabis licensing fraud stretched across Los Angeles County and included: former Baldwin Park City Councilmember Ricardo Pacheco, former Compton City Councilmember Isaac Galvan, Edgar Pascual Cisneros, who was the city manager for the nearby city of Commerce, and Robert Manuel Nacionales-Tafoya, who was the city attorney for Baldwin Park.
The lawsuit named Nacionales-Tafoya, Galvan, and Pacheco as defendants, as well as Manuel Lozano, a current Baldwin Park councilmember, and Lourdes Morales, a former chief deputy city clerk for the city.
The suit also alleged the city of Baldwin Park was negligent for hiring and supervising the city employees who allegedly committed the fraud.