By Dan Whitcomb and Dana Feldman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California state senator has been indicted on federal charges that he took $100,000 in bribes from a businessman and from undercover FBI agents posing as Hollywood movie executives in exchange for steering legislation in their favor, prosecutors said on Friday.
Democrat Ron Calderon, 56, has agreed to turn himself in on Monday to face two dozen counts of bribery, fraud, money laundering and other charges, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte said at a news conference to announce the charges.
"Senator Calderon is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and using the powers of his elected office to enrich himself and his brother Tom, rather than for the benefit of the public he was sworn to serve," Birotte said.
State senate leader Darrell Steinberg called on Calderon, a veteran legislator and member of a political dynasty going back several decades in California, to resign or take a leave of absence.
"At a minimum, he should take a complete leave of absence until the criminal proceedings are finished," Steinberg said. "If he does not resign, or take that leave of absence voluntarily, the Senate will seek to suspend him."
Phone calls made to Ron Calderon's offices in the Los Angeles area and in Sacramento were not answered on Friday.
According to a 28-page indictment handed down in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday, Calderon is accused of taking some $100,000 in cash bribes, along with plane trips, golf outings and jobs for his children, in exchange for influencing legislation.
Prosecutors say the lawmaker accepted bribes from Long Beach, California, hospital owner Michael Drobot to preserve a legislative loophole that allowed Drobot to defraud the state's healthcare system out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The senator's brother, Tom Calderon, a former member of the California State Assembly, was also named in the indictment and charged with conspiracy and seven counts of money laundering.
Drobot has agreed to plead guilty to separate federal charges and is cooperating in the case against the Calderon brothers, prosecutors say.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California state senator has been indicted on federal charges that he took $100,000 in bribes from a businessman and from undercover FBI agents posing as Hollywood movie executives in exchange for steering legislation in their favor, prosecutors said on Friday.Democrat Ron Calderon, 56, has agreed to turn himself in on Monday to face two dozen counts of bribery, fraud, money laundering and other charges, U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte said at a news conference to announce the charges.
"Senator Calderon is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and using the powers of his elected office to enrich himself and his brother Tom, rather than for the benefit of the public he was sworn to serve," Birotte said.
State senate leader Darrell Steinberg called on Calderon, a veteran legislator and member of a political dynasty going back several decades in California, to resign or take a leave of absence.
"At a minimum, he should take a complete leave of absence until the criminal proceedings are finished," Steinberg said. "If he does not resign, or take that leave of absence voluntarily, the Senate will seek to suspend him."
Phone calls made to Ron Calderon's offices in the Los Angeles area and in Sacramento were not answered on Friday.
According to a 28-page indictment handed down in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday, Calderon is accused of taking some $100,000 in cash bribes, along with plane trips, golf outings and jobs for his children, in exchange for influencing legislation.
Prosecutors say the lawmaker accepted bribes from Long Beach, California, hospital owner Michael Drobot to preserve a legislative loophole that allowed Drobot to defraud the state's healthcare system out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The senator's brother, Tom Calderon, a former member of the California State Assembly, was also named in the indictment and charged with conspiracy and seven counts of money laundering.
Drobot has agreed to plead guilty to separate federal charges and is cooperating in the case against the Calderon brothers, prosecutors say.
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