RIVERSIDE – Today, May 12, 2017, District Attorney Mike Hestrin announced that Beaumont City Councilmember Mark Orozco has been indicted by a Riverside County criminal grand jury.

Orozco of Beaumont, was indicted on May 11, 2017, on one count of soliciting a bribe (Penal Code section 86) and nine counts of perjury (Penal Code section 118) for falsely identifying campaign funds on his required disclosure document – the Fair Political Practices Commission Form 460.

Orozco is a father of 4, husband, teacher and businessman, according to his biography on the city's website. Prior to serving on the city council, he had served as a Board Trustee of the Beaumont Unified School District. Orozco also served on several regional and local chambers of commerce.

Orozco also operates a public/governmental relations consulting firm, teaches U.S. government and U.S. history.  His wife is an an elementary teacher with the Beaumont School District.   

This indictment is unrelated to the pending criminal case involving former Beaumont city officials. Arrangements have been made for Orozco to surrender on May 25, 2017, in Dept. 41 at the Hall of Justice in Riverside for his arraignment scheduled that day. His bail is set at $25,000 and his maximum sentence as currently charged is 13 years in state prison.

“Our Public Integrity Unit does the difficult and necessary work of rooting out corruption in our community,” District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. “I appreciate and thank the City of Beaumont for their continued cooperation during the course of the investigation. It was only with the partnership of the Beaumont officials, that we were able to bring forth the indictment against Orozco. It is important to hold our community leaders to the highest standards in our continued efforts to deter political corruption in our county.”

Due to the confidentiality of the grand jury proceedings, no additional information about the evidence presented to the grand jury can be released at this time. By law, the transcript of the grand jury proceedings is sealed until 10 days after the defendant receives a copy of the transcripts.

After that happens, the DA’s Office will request that the transcript be unsealed and it will then become a public record. The Public Integrity Unit of the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation conducted this investigation after a complaint made by the City of Beaumont. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys Amy Barajas and Emily Hanks of the DA’s Public Integrity Unit.