Every day, I swear, somebody asks me, “Vern, what is going on with Todd Ament, when is he being sentenced?” Sometimes they add, impatiently, “I mean Jesus Christ, it’s been five years, he’s managed to put this off, what, seven times?” Sometimes, waxing Biblical, they cry out, “When, O when will justice rain down like a river?” Some, demonstrating their detailed knowledge, elaborate:

“How is this jolly swindler, who corrupted our Chamber of Commerce for 18 years, who used it as his piggy-bank for 18 years, who managed to elect friendly Councils over and over that paid him back with millions of our taxpayer dollars in no-bid contracts, who sat as bribetaking gatekeeper during the 3½ years of Mayor Sidhu, how is this guy still roaming free five years later and living the life of a bon vivant, in the very Big Bear estate he obtained with his laundered money?“

I hear you.

Long story short, nothing more is happening till 2026 – Judge Aenlle-Rocha has granted Todd a chance on February 20 to explain why he should be able to retract his guilty plea to four felonies as he wants to, and then, FINALLY, on March 6, the Judge will mete out his sentence.

But you don’t come here for the “long story short,” you come here for the LOWDOWN. The Lowdown along with a shitload of never-before-seen incriminating documents. So let’s get cracking…

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Mysteries of the Trump “Department of Justice”

Observers of Anaheim’s three marquee 2022 federal corruption cases have been baffled this year, after so much investigative work by the FBI, and years of mystifying delay, to watch the DOJ morph into… not even a paper tiger but more of a cuddly kitten, showering the defendants with praise and practically throwing out the cases and recommended sentences.

• At the August sentencing of Melahat Rafiei, who’d confessed to felony bribery and wire fraud for which she was expecting as much as 60 months in prison, the gentle “prosecutor” Melissa Rabbani stunned us all by recommending NO prison time, just probation and a fine… because Melahat had been so “cooperative” in the investigation.

• Last month Rabbani similarly made headlines by recommending only ONE DAY in jail (time served) for Todd Ament, who’d confessed to four felonies of wire fraud, lying to a financial institution, and tax fraud, and even asked for one of the wire fraud charges to be dropped… because Todd had been so “cooperative and helpful” in the investigation.

• And earlier this year, in March (only two months into the Trump/Bondi term) the DOJ had recommended an 8-month sentence for Harry Sidhu‘s confessed crimes, but the all-compassionate Rabbani didn’t argue for that in court, just heaped praise on Harry for resigning as Mayor, apologizing a lot, and being real “co-operative” in the investigation… and he ended up serving only 22 days.

First, what’s the purpose of all this “co-operating?” What or who is the target or endgame? Harry, Melahat, and Todd were all so helpful in the uncovering of… WHAT? Not anything WE THE PEOPLE ever had a chance to hear about. Second, who needs a defense when you have a prosecution throwing out the whole case and making excuses for you? Third, I note that the filings that come from the DOJ, detailing Rabbani’s mission of mercy and forgiveness, are signed by her boss, MAGA legal thug Bill Essayli. He of the “puberty blockers.” Of course.

Our little Anaheim cases are just the tip of the swamp, the swamp we see in the news every day: the Trump administration and his DOJ under Pam Bondi, far from combatting corruption, CELEBRATE CORRUPTION. It’s not even a partisan or left-right thing with this crowd – I write this the day after Trump pardoned bribetaking Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar, and before that NY Democrat Eric Adams, and before that Chicago Democrat Rob Blagojevich, we’re just waiting for the Menendez shoe to drop. The looting of government is seen now, by our new leaders, as a positive good. Go figure.

Check out this article if you don’t believe me. When Trump took over the DOJ it had “36 experienced attorneys assigned full-time to investigate corrupt politicians and police officers. Today it has only two.” At least 90% of the DOJ’s resources are now focused on Trump’s two highest priorities and you know what those are: Ethnic cleansing of dark-skinned immigrants, and trying to make phony charges (usually of “mortgage fraud,” ironically) stick to Trump’s most prominent critics.

What a clown show we are trapped in. And the beneficiaries include local crooks like Harry Sidhu. And Todd Ament. Speaking of Todd…

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Dog Ate My Confession

It is nice to have your prison sentence reduced to one day, time served. But it would be even better to have no felony convictions on your record and owe no fines. So, never one to be accused of not “wanting it all,” Todd Ament filed last month to withdraw his guilty plea to all four felonies; you can read his declaration here.

Basically Todd blames his guilty pleas on bad advice from his former attorney, and insists now that he was INNOCENT of everything – the two counts of wire fraud, the lying to a financial institution, and the tax fraud. Those of us who remember reading the FBI affidavits may have a hard time swallowing all that innocence, and the request was not filed “timely,” but, fair to a fault, Judge Aenlle-Rocha is giving Todd one more chance to get it right, on February 20.

Throwing anything remotely helpful at the wall, Todd emphasizes to the Trump-appointed judge that he was a “Republican strategist and Chamber CEO” which “gave him access to OC’s most influential businesses, civic leaders and politicians.” Hence it was presumably concerning that the [Biden] FBI “immediately asked him about politically conservative, pro-business PACs in Orange County.”

Painfully aware that this judge threw the book at Melahat in August, Todd further emphasizes that “Ms. Rafiei was one of my main political rivals in Orange County.” Hm, that’s not how most of us remember it. Pigs at a bipartisan trough is how we remember it. Anyway I predict this undertone of partisan pleading won’t work on straight-arrow Judge Aenlle-Rocha, Trump-appointed or not.

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Judge Aenlle-Rocha, and No Nonsense.

It must be a little unnerving, to be the Judge, and have the prosecutor come into your courtroom, with reams of incriminating material AND confessions, but sounding just like the defense, attesting to the fine character of the accused and arguing against any sentencing. Kind of throws off the balance of the scales of justice, leaving only YOU, the judge, responsible for enforcing the law, ensuring proper consequences.

That’s how it was whenJudge John Holcomb presided over the March sentencing of Harry Sidhu, looking down from his bench at the defense asking for no time at all, and “prosecutor” Melissa conspicuously NOT arguing for the 8 months her predecessors had recommended, but talking about what a great helpful guy Harry is. The puzzled judge finally said, “Well, these are very serious charges, he confessed to them, and he betrayed the public’s trust, he’s gotta see SOME TIME behind bars!” And he ruled two months; somehow Harry ended up doing only 22 days, during which time, in his true Mayor Clownshoes style, he arranged to have an A.I. blog put out under his name telling people how to be a good Mayor. (So that nobody would guess he was in prison, you see!)

Cuban-American Judge Aenlle-Rocha (right) was certainly mindful of the Sidhu spectacle when the Melahat case came to him in August, and he brushed away the prosecution’s pleas for clemency like a fleeting moth. He scolded Melahat as a fellow immigrant who should take the laws and institutions of her adopted homeland especially seriously, and handed down a sentence of six months, stunning everyone. It’s this No-Nonsense Aenlle-Rocha that is also hearing Todd Ament’s case. And here, from October, you can read him swatting away the half-assed Essayli-Rabbani motion to randomly throw out one of Todd’s charges, like a fleeting moth.

This is true: For the few crimes Harry, Melahat and Todd were charged with and confessed to, you just KNOW all three of ’em are guilty of a LOT more crookedness. I mean, literally, we know that. I listed the uncharged misdeeds of Harry here, Melahat here, and the Ament-led Chamber here. That’s why when someone gets a DUI the prosecutor doesn’t say “Oh, they just made this one mistake,” like Rabbani might – you know they just finally got caught.

One final thing, a segue actually: I liked this bit from the Register:

“Aenlle-Rocha also criticized that attorneys on both sides have been asking for several filings in the case to be sealed or redacted and noted, ‘The public has a right of access to our files.'”

We need more judges who think that way. And we just happen to HAVE some of those files, linked down below, that both sides wanted to keep secret!

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Chamber as Victim?

The Embezzlement! The Money Laundering! The Body Sculpting!

This is something most of us hadn’t considered – the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce as a victim of Todd Ament – because for so many years Ament and the Chamber seemed one and the same. But the current leaders of the reformed Chamber insist that they WERE a victim. The Chamber was in place and doing important work for 109 years before Todd took over, and even during the Todd years there were lots of good people there, doing their best to help Anaheim business. And now the nonprofit struggles to redeem its reputation.

And so, the Chamber is asking to add itself to the list of Ament’s victims in this federal case against him. Although it’s estimated Todd caused the Chamber losses of at least $1.6 million, the Chamber was originally asking for $264k. The prosecutors were all NO, the Chamber’s not a victim, only the two cannabis companies are. (Mr. Nice Guy & Organic Global Growth.) Judge Aenlle-Rocha is all not so fast, let’s listen to the Chamber’s arguments – another decision that’ll be made March 6.

I’m going to have to end this soon, write a “part two” later, because it just doesn’t end. What’s happened is this: The new Chamber leaders (Dara Maleki & Michael Johnson, right) have managed, with the help of computer forensics, to uncover a lot of bank records, invoices, and e-mail chains that were successfully hidden till now by Todd and his allies. And, like Dara says, “It’s like peeling an onion” – they send me new stuff every day. But I did promise you a few new documents.

So here are the records showing the money laundering and mortgage fraud that comprise a lot of the federal legal trouble Todd is in now – taking money from the two cannabis companies, not doing what he promised them, laundering the money through the Chamber AND accounts belonging to Jeff Flint, ending up by making a down payment, or what they call “earnest money” on Todd’s Big Bear estate. HERE and HERE. To make it look like Todd had all this money for the Big Bear purchase, even though it wasn’t really his. Note to Trump DOJ: This is what mortgage fraud really looks like.

And then there is the endless embezzlement over the years – the more you look the more you see, Todd funding his lavish lifestyle with Chamber funds and zero oversight. Let’s see…

Here’s the down payment on Todd’s RANGE ROVER, coming right out of the Chamber with nobody saying anything. He put vanity plates on it reading “PAPA TDD” and he LOVED that truck… until he traded it in for a fancier one a couple years later.

Every Chamber CEO need a PELOTON. Although nobody remembers there being one at the Chamber offices.

Chamber CEO’s do need a lot of work on their swimming pools. Although nobody remembers there being such a thing as a Chamber of Commerce swimming pool.

Who needed BODY SCULPTING from Corona’s “Slender Me?” It’s funny to think of Todd getting body sculpting, but it could have been for his right-hand woman at the Chamber, Wendy Curtis, who also regularly helped herself freely to Chamber funds. Call it the body sculpting mystery.

Gotta run, some 19-year old got shot and killed by the APD, and we are starting a rent control initiative. But there is gonna be…

…a LOT more.