Former California City Leader Gets 12 Years In Prison

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former city manager of Bell, Calif., has been sentenced to 12 years in state prison for a corruption scheme that nearly bankrupted the small city just outside Los Angeles.

Robert Rizzo was sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, where he earlier pleaded no contest to 69 counts including conspiracy, misappropriation of public funds and falsification of public records.

It was revealed in 2010 that Rizzo was giving himself an annual salary and benefits package of $1.5 million in a city where a quarter of the population lives below the federal poverty line.

On Monday, Rizzo was sentenced separately to 33 months in federal prison for income tax evasion.

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