DA calls Spaccia a liar and thief; Bell case is in jury's hands

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Mayor Oscar Hernandez tells Bell resident Jose Orozco his time is up during a meeting filled with residents upset over the high salaries paid to city administrators. The overwhelming number of public speakers called for their resignations. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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The crowd erupts in anger at Monday night’s City Council meeting at the Bell community center. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. County sheriff’s deputies stand near the Bell City Council -- from left, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, George Mirabal and Luis Artiga -- during a meeting filled with residents upset over high salaries paid to council members. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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An angry Bell resident gestures toward the City Council during a meeting filled with locals upset about high salaries paid to members and other administrators. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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A police barricade keeps those in line from entering the Bell Community Center, which was at maximum capacity during the City Council meeting where a decision to cut the salaries of the mayor and three council members was made. (Christina House / For The Times)

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Robert Mackin, center, a Bell resident since 1941, covers his ears while fellow resident Enrique Martinez, right, yells out after hearing that no more people would be allowed inside the Community Center to attend the City Council meeting where a vote to cut the salaries of Bell’s mayor and three other council members was being taken. (Christina House / For The Times)

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Galileo Gonzalez, 21, pens a caricature of Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez on a sign protesting the salaries of the City Council. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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Bell businessman Joseph Lee, left, and 15-year Bell resident Hussein Saleh help hang signs outside the Bell Community Center a few hours before the City Council meeting where the vote to cut the salaries of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and fellow council members Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal was to take place. (Christina House / For The Times)

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Officers Tony Lopez, center, and Jose Garcia guard the door to the Bell City Council chambers, where council members held an emergency meeting Thursday to consider the fate of three highly-paid top city officials.
See full story (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

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Bell City Councilman Lorenzo Velez speaks to the media at the emergency meeting.
See full story (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Bell resident Danny Harber reacts after he and other residents are told that a special City Council meeting on the controversy over high salaries paid to city officials will be closed to the public.
See full story (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Bell City Atty. Ed Lee addresses the audience at the special meeting of the Bell City Council as City Clerk Rebecca Valdez watches.
See full story (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters gather at Bell City Hall to demand resignations of city officials whose salaries are among the highest in the nation. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

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Police try to calm the crowd of protesters trying to get into the City Council meeting. The council ordered city staff to prepare a report on salaries for its July 26 meeting. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

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Bell Police Chief Randy Adams, whose $457,000 salary is 50% higher than that of his Los Angeles counterpart, attended the council meeting Monday. City Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, whose salary is also causing an outcry, did not attend. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

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As the City Council meeting got underway, people were collecting signatures demanding an audit of city finances. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

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A number of people waved signs that read “Stop the abuse on our taxes” and “Welcome to Bell, where the City Council makes more than you do. Also, we have nice parks.” One person had a sign showing Mayor Oscar Hernandez with devil horns. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

By Ruben Vives

Nov. 22, 2013 11:28 AM PT

A Los Angeles jury is weighing the fate of a former ranking administrator in Bell who prosecutors claim was one of the architects of the widespread corruption that left the working-class town on the edge of bankruptcy.

Angela Spaccia was described by prosecutors as the spark plug for the high salaries and generous benefit packages that were awarded key officials in the Los Angeles County city, someone who worked tirelessly to “suck” money from the town.

But Spaccia, who took the stand in her own defense, said she was a victim of her controlling, manipulative boss Robert Rizzo, the city’s former chief executive. She claimed she never asked for the huge salaries she was paid, which grew to $564,000 by the time she was forced out, but was “grateful” for the large paycheck.

In a final push Friday to sway jurors, Deputy Dist. Atty Sean Hassett described Spaccia as a liar and a thief.

“That money was meant for the city of Bell, it was meant for their parks, it was meant for their use,” Hassett said. “It’s their tax dollars being stolen by the defendant who they trusted.”

Jurors are being asked to sift through the contrasting profiles of Spaccia and determine whether to convict her on any or all of 13 felony counts, including misappropriating public funds, conflict of interest and secretion of public records.

The trial is likely the final chapter in the long-running Bell salary scandal, which exploded in 2010 when it was revealed that the small town’s leaders were among the highest paid municipal employees in California and that the city was approaching insolvency even as paychecks continued to climb.

Rizzo pleaded no contest last month to 69 felony corruption counts and is expected to be sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison.

Five of six former Bell council members were convicted this year of misappropriation of public funds and await sentencing.

Spaccia and Rizzo have each accused the other of masterminding the corruption scheme, but Rizzo’s decision to enter a plea left Spaccia alone to face the most serious charges.

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