Angela Spaccia, former assistant city manager of Bell, California was found guilty of 11 corruption charges in the case, which nearly bankrupted the city, The Associated Press reported.
The corruption charges against the assistant city manager included "conspiracy, misappropriation of public funds, falsification of government records and conflict of interest," The AP also reported.
Spaccia was, however, found not guilty of hiding a public document involving the police chief's contract.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy also declared a mistrial on another count after jurors were deadlocked.
Prosecutors "charged that Spaccia was deeply involved in approving enormous salaries for officials... [She] testified that she was making too much money when her salary exceeded $340,000 but mantained it was not criminal. She was left to stand trial alone after her former boss, Robert Rizzo, pleaded no contest to 69 corruption charges," The AP also reported.
Marco Islas, a juror in Spaccia's trial, said that he felt that the official was following Rizzo's orders "like a brainwash. But in the end, she knew what she was doing."
"By the end of her tenure... Spaccia was making $564,000 a year in salary and other compensation. Rizzo was giving himself an annual salary and benefits package of $1.2 million. His $800,000 in wages alone was double than that of the President of the United States," The AP also reported.
Five former Bell City Council members were convicted of fraud charges after reports surfaced that "authorities said they paid themselves salaries for sitting on boards and commissions that did no work and existed only to pay the defendants," The AP reported.
"Spaccia and... Rizzo are expected to now face federal charges on conspiracy to commit tax fraud. And, there's also still a trial for five city council members on charges that the jury deadlocked on their trial" said Los Angeles Times' Jeff Gottlieb who had been covering the investigation and trial for the past few years.
The 59-year-old Rizzo is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12 and could be sent to prison for 10 to 12 years, according to news reports.
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