INDIO, Calif. — A Riverside County felony grand jury has indicted the longtime mayor of Coachella on 9 counts, together with one felony cost of violating battle of curiosity guidelines associated to authorities contracts and 4 felony counts of perjury.
Steven Hernandez, 42, who has served on the Coachella Metropolis Council for practically twenty years, pleaded not responsible Thursday morning on the Larson Justice Middle in Indio.
Hernandez was a rising politician in Riverside County and Coachella, an agricultural metropolis of 42,500 individuals about 130 miles southeast of Los Angeles. If convicted as charged, Hernandez could be barred from public workplace for all times and face greater than seven years in state jail, in line with Riverside County Dist. Atty. Mike Hestrin.
Hernandez was raised in Coachella by his grandparents, who had been migrant farmworkers. He was first elected to the council in 2006, changing into an integral a part of a robust group of Latino politicians within the valley east of Palm Springs. Below his management, the town made main infrastructure investments in its downtown, together with an expanded library, a brand new senior heart and a brand new hearth station.
However Hernandez allegedly benefited from a few of the votes he forged from the dais, catching the eye of the Riverside County District Lawyer’s workplace.
The indictment, unsealed Thursday, expenses Hernandez with a number of misdemeanors for utilizing his function as a public official to affect governmental choices by which he had a monetary curiosity. Amongst these had been votes, forged between 2021 and 2023, to make use of pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act funds to rehabilitate the downtown hearth station, in addition to votes on a industrial mission generally known as Fountainhead Plaza, an inexpensive residence group known as the Tripoli Blended-Use mission, and a transit hub close to downtown.
Hernandez’s lawyer issued an announcement following Thursday’s proceedings.
“We acknowledge the intense nature of those expenses and can be working with our consumer to resolve the matter,” stated A. Alexander Lowder, a accomplice with the Larson LLP agency.
The indictment additionally expenses Hernandez with a felony for “willfully and unlawfully” approving a contract by which he had a monetary curiosity when when he voted for an settlement between the town and the Coachella Valley Assn. of Governments’ Housing First program, which serves chronically homeless individuals.
An Assn. of Governments spokesperson stated the group has absolutely cooperated with the district lawyer’s workplace and grand jury and “there has by no means been an implication from investigators that the investigation had something to do with actions by elected officers serving of their CVAG capability.”
The perjury expenses relate to claims made by Hernandez on his Assertion of Financial Pursuits public disclosure kinds, also referred to as the Kind 700, the district lawyer stated.
The indictment named 13 witnesses who testified earlier than the felony grand jury, together with a Metropolis Council member, the town’s financial growth director, a former council member and a former metropolis supervisor.
Hernandez will stay mayor of Coachella “till in any other case notified,” in line with metropolis spokesperson Risseth Lora.
Together with serving on the Metropolis Council, Hernandez works because the chief of employees for Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. He was placed on “indefinite administrative depart” from the county, Perez stated in an announcement Wednesday, including: “Though we’re nonetheless ready on extra particulars, it’s our understanding that the costs are unrelated to his function in our workplace.”
Hernandez surrendered to Riverside County sheriff’s officers on the Robert Presley Detention Middle in Riverside on Tuesday and posted $112,500 bail. He appeared earlier than Riverside County Superior Court docket Choose John J. Ryan on Thursday morning. Sporting a navy swimsuit, he clasped his fingers behind his again as his lawyer entered the plea.
He donned sun shades as he left the courtroom.
This text is a part of The Instances’ fairness reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Basis, exploring the challenges dealing with low-income staff and the efforts being made to handle California’s financial divide.
