Ron Calderon

Ronald Steven Calderon (born August 12, 1957 in Montebello, California) is a former Democratic California State Senator from the 30th Senate District.[1] Calderon is also known for receiving bribes from Michael Drobot.[2]

Ronald Calderon
Member of the California State Senate
from the 30th district
In office
December 4, 2006 – November 30, 2014
Preceded byMartha Escutia
Succeeded byHolly Mitchell (redistricted)
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 58th district
In office
December 2, 2002 – November 30, 2006
Preceded byThomas M. Calderon
Succeeded byCharles M. Calderon
Personal details
Born
Ronald Steven Calderon

(1957-08-12) August 12, 1957
Montebello, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAna Calderon
RelationsCharles Calderon (brother)
Tom Calderon (brother)
Lisa Calderon (sister-in-law)
Ian Calderon (nephew)
Children2
Residence(s)Montebello, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
OccupationOwner, financial services sales and marketing firm
Mortgage banker
Real estate agent

Early life

On August 12, 1957, Calderon was born in Montebello, California. Calderon attended Montebello High School.[3]

Education

In 1980, Calderon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from UCLA. Calderon graduated from the Western State University of Law.[3]

Career

Calderon served as a manager in the manufacturing industry, a mortgage banker, and a real estate agent.[4][5]

Calderon's political career began when he served as chief of staff for Ed Chavez.[3]

Calderon is the second of his family to serve in the senate and the third to hold a seat in the legislature. Prior to Ronald's election his brothers Charles and Thomas also served in the state assembly.

California Assembly

After redistricting, Calderon's brother Tom Calderon decided to run for California Insurance Commissioner in 2002. Calderon ran for the seat vacated by his brother Tom and won the Democratic primary with 46% of the vote.[6] He won the general election with 63% of the vote.[7] In 2004, he won re-election with 62% of the vote.[8] In 2006, he retired to run for the California State Senate. His brother, Charles, succeeded him.

Calderon served as Chairman of the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee. He was also elected Assistant Majority Leader.

California Senate

Calderon was elected to the 30th Senate District, which includes: Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park, La Mirada, Los Angeles, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, California, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, South Gate, Whittier, East Whittier, East Los Angeles, Florence-Graham, Hacienda Heights, South Whittier, and West Whittier-Los Nietos.[9][10]

In 2006, incumbent Democratic State Senator Martha Escutia decided to retire. In the Democratic primary, Calderon defeated fellow State Representative Rudy Bermúdez 50.4%-49.7%, a difference of just 305 votes.[11] He won the general election with 71% of the vote.[12] In 2010, he won re-election with 69% of the vote.[13] In 2014, Calderon could not run for re-election due to term limits, and he was succeeded by Tony Mendoza.

Calderon was chairman of the Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee. Senate President Don Perata selected Calderon to lead senate efforts to reform term-limits and redistricting laws, as well as moving the state's presidential primary from June to February. Calderon also chaired the Select Committee on International Business Trade, in addition to sitting on the Appropriations and Energy, Utilities and Communications committees. Calderon also sat on the California Film Commission, which is tasked with promoting and subsidizing the California film industry.[4]

2012 congressional election
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2012

In August 2011, Calderon announced he would be running for the United States Congress in the newly redrawn California's 38th congressional district against incumbent U.S. Congresswoman Linda Sánchez in the Democratic primary. Calderon's State Senate district represented around 70% of the redrawn thirty-eighth.[14] Calderon withdrew from the race in January 2012.[15]

Corruption case

On June 4, 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided Calderon's offices in the California State Capitol in an attempt to find evidence regarding accusations of criminal activity.[16] On the same day, the FBI also raided the office of California's Latino Legislative Caucus of which Calderon served as vice-chair.

An FBI affidavit was published online on October 30, 2013 by cable network Al Jazeera America with a claim that State Sen. Ron Calderon accepted about $88,000 in bribes from a Southern California hospital executive, Michael Drobot, for legislation regarding workers' compensation for an expensive surgical procedure, and an undercover FBI agent posing as a film studio owner during a wide-ranging probe into his conduct as a legislator.[17] On November 12, 2013, Calderon was suspended from his committee assignments, citing the ongoing inquiry into the alleged bribe.[18]

On February 21, 2014 Calderon agreed to surrender to federal authorities after being named in a federal grand jury indictment.[19] After surrendering to authorities on February 24, 2014 Calderon appeared in Court and pleaded not guilty to 24 charges relating to wire fraud, bribery, money laundering and falsification of tax returns. His trial was scheduled to commence on April 22, 2014. Calderon was released on a $50,000 surety bond. He could have faced a prison term of up to a maximum 396 years if convicted on all charges. The California Senate gave the senator until March 3, 2014 to either resign or take a leave of absence, failing which a vote would be taken to suspend him from office.[20] On March 2, Calderon announced that he would take a leave of absence. He was absent until the end of the 2014 session, at which point he was term-limited out of office.[21]

On June 13, 2016, federal prosecutors announced that Calderon agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud.[22] A week earlier his brother Tom pleaded guilty to money-laundering.[23]

In October 2016, Calderon was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder to serve 42 months in federal prison and perform 150 hours of community service. Calderon began his prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan in January 2017, and released in January 2019, after serving only 24 months of his 42-month sentence.[2][24] Through his attorney, Mark Geragos, he had petitioned the Bureau of Prisons to be released 12 month earlier, in January 2018, under the Second Chance Act of 2007.[25]

Personal life

In 1982, Calderon married Ana. They have two children, Jessica and Zachary. Calderon resides in Montebello, California.[3][26]

See also

References
  1. Schmidt, Gregory; Wilson, E. Dotson (June 30, 2007). "California Legislature 2007–08" (PDF). State of California. pp. 34 of 548 in PDF. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 11, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  2. "Former State Senator Ronald Calderon Sentenced 42 Months in Federal Prison Receiving Over 150,000 Dollars in Bribes". justice.gov. October 21, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  3. "Ron Calderon's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  4. Senator Ronald S. Calderon – Biography
  5. "Senator Ron Calderon -- Biography". September 8, 2007. Archived from the original on September 8, 2007.
  6. "Our Campaigns - CA State Assembly 58- D Primary Race - Mar 05, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  7. "Our Campaigns - CA State Assembly 58 Race - Nov 05, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  8. "Our Campaigns - CA State Assembly 58 Race - Nov 02, 2004". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  9. "Senate District 30 (District Profile)". State of California. September 13, 2001. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  10. "Assembly District 58 (SB 802)". State of California. September 13, 2001. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  11. "Our Campaigns - CA State Senate 30 - D Primary Race - Jun 06, 2006". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  12. "Our Campaigns - CA State Senate 30 Race - Nov 07, 2006". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  13. "Our Campaigns - CA State Senate 30 Race - Nov 02, 2010". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  14. "RonCalderon.com". www.roncalderon.com.
  15. "Capitol Alert: Ron Calderon drops bid for Congress, endorses Linda Sanchez". February 5, 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012.
  16. "FBI searches offices tied to California Sen. Ron Calderon | News - KCRA Home". Archived from the original on June 16, 2013.
  17. "California state Sen. Ron Calderon accepted $88,000 in bribes, FBI affidavit alleges". The Sacramento Bee.
  18. McGreevy, Patrick (November 12, 2013). "Sen. Ronald Calderon stripped of committee assignments amid inquiry" – via LA Times.
  19. "California State Senator Ronald Calderon Charged With Taking Bribes In Exchange For Official Acts On Behalf Of Hospital Owner And Independent Film Studio That Was Actually An FBI Front". www.justice.gov.
  20. "Corruption accused US lawmaker pleads not guilty". California Telegraph. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  21. "Embattled State Sen. Ron Calderon Takes Indefinite Leave Of Absence". March 2, 2014.
  22. Dan Whitcomb (June 13, 2016). "Ex-California lawmaker to plead guilty in corruption case – prosecutors". reuters.com.
  23. Whitcomb, Dan (June 13, 2016). "Ex-California lawmaker to plead guilty in corruption case: prosecutors". Reuters. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  24. McGreevy, Patrick (January 19, 2019). "Former state Sen. Ronald Calderon released after serving three years in political corruption case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  25. Koseff, Alexei (August 14, 2017). "Former California lawmaker seeks early release from prison on corruption charges". Sacramento Bee.
  26. "Ronald S. Calderon". joincalifornia.com. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
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