There has been an ongoing investigation of alleged loan improprieties by Inglewood officials since 2006
The Los Angeles County District Attorney recently issued a statement charging Mayor Roosevelt Dorn of Inglewood with numerous felony counts stemming from a low-interest loan where he allegedly borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from city funds. Since December 2006, the D.A.’s office had been investigating the impropriety of the loan, which was triggered by complaints from the city’s Residential Incentive Policy Program.
According to the District Attorney’s office, Dorn was charged by its public corruption prosecutors with conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds in connection with the low-interest loan he obtained. Dorn is expected to appear for arraignment on July 3 in Los Angeles County Superior Court Department 30. The D.A. has charged Dorn, in Case No. BA 340925 with one felony count each of an unauthorized loan for private profit; misappropriation of public funds without authority of law; conflict of interest; and also one additional misdemeanor count.
Dorn has not been arrested, but most likely arrangements will be made for him to formally surrender and be booked. Bail was recommended at $25,000. According to the allegations, the incident(s) took place in 2004. Sources close to the story, who preferred not to be named, said that there is an agreement in the making where Dorn will resign as part of a plea bargain in exchange for the charges being reduced to misdemeanors.
Calls were made to the city council members, the city attorney and to Mayor Dorn for their comment(s) on the matter.
When asked to comment on the information from the D.A.’s office, Councilman Danny Tabor said, “I raised this question (about the D.A.’s investigation) sometime ago at a council meeting and since then has not discussed the matter with Mayor Dorn. So I’ll be reaching out to him now that it has become a legal issue. But I haven’t spoken with him yet. I plan to talk with him to see what his intentions are relative to the charges and the case. I think he has said in the past, that he had repaid the loan, and I thought it had removed the legal issue but it appears now that it did not.”
Former Assemblyman Jerome Horton, who is now a private citizen and a resident of Inglewood was asked about his thought on the matter, since he had worked with Dorn in the past as a fellow-elected official. Horton stated, “I believe in due process; I think he should have an opportunity to defend himself. I always thought it (the loan) was inappropriate, however, I never thought it was malicious and that he tried to exploit the city. As far as I’m concerned, he’s in a jam and I wish him well. I hope he comes out of it all right.”
When reached at his office, the City Attorney, Hal Saunders responded tersely, “No comment.”
Messages were left on the voicemail of the other city council members, Judy Dunlap, Ralph Franklin and Eloy Morales, Jr., but no responses were generated by press time.
Dorn is in his third four-year term as mayor of Inglewood, a city that has a constantly changing set of demographics. He served in the United States Air Force, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and has been a Municipal and Superior Court Judge.
