A former city of Commerce official who pleaded guilty to bribing a now-convicted Baldwin Park politician in exchange for his votes and influence over his city's cannabis permitting process was sentenced Tuesday to two years' probation and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.
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Edgar Cisneros, 42, of Montebello, who served as Commerce's city manager from November 2017 to December 2023, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to a federal bribery count, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
His plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court states that shortly after Baldwin Park began issuing marijuana permits in June 2017, then-Baldwin Park City Councilman Ricardo Pacheco solicited bribes from companies seeking those permits.
Cisneros helped a company obtain a marijuana permit and related approvals through about $45,000 in bribes and the company promised to pay Cisneros at least $235,000 to help secure the permit, federal prosecutors said.
Pacheco pleaded guilty in June 2020 to a federal bribery charge unrelated to the marijuana-permit scheme. He further admitted to orchestrating bribery schemes involving two others.
Pacheco's sentencing hearing is scheduled for October.
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