Month: May 2025

City News Service

BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – Pretrial motions got underway today ahead of jury selection for the trial of one-time Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet and a real estate developer, stemming from an alleged scheme to buy off the mayor to ensure his support for the businessman’s projects.

Pougnet, 62, and John Elroy Wessman, 86, were criminally charged, for the first time, in 2017. They were indicted by a Riverside County grand jury two years later, along with Coachella Valley real estate developer Richard Hugh Meaney, 59.

All the felony charges against Meaney were later dismissed. However, he pleaded guilty to a reinstated misdemeanor count of financial conflict in a government contract. Meaney is free on bond and is slated for sentencing in June.

Richard Meaney

On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz ruled on motions from the prosecution and defense, one of which concerned the process of seating a jury. Both sides agreed to craft their own preferred questionnaires for prospective jurors to complete, which Diaz was slated to review by the end ofthe week. The approved questions will then be given to the prospects for them to answer.  

A pool of 400 prospective jurors is being requested. However, many of those are likely to be eliminated during hardship interviews conducted by a court commissioner, ahead of formal jury selection. When the pool has been narrowed, the final screening process will begin, which is tentatively set for Thursday, May 15.   

Opening statements will likely occur before the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Testimony is expected to conclude by June 20, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Pougnet and Wessman are each free on bond.

The case, which began as a federal corruption probe until it was turned over to county investigators in 2016, has been plagued by repeated delays, some resulting from ongoing challenges by the defense to the indictment, as well as the COVID lockdowns, Pougnet’s relocation to another state, changes to legal counsel and related complications.   

A trial judge in December 2020 dismissed all counts against Wessman, characterizing them as baseless, but the charges were reinstated by the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Riverside less than two years later. The defendant is charged with nine counts of bribery of a public official and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony.   

Check Out Our ‘Scandal at City Hall’ Section for More Coverage on this Case

Pougnet is charged with eight counts each of accepting bribes and illicit financial interest in public contracts, along with three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy. He served two terms as mayor, leaving office in 2015.

The influence-buying scheme that prosecutors allege the men were involved in netted Pougnet close to $400,000 between 2012 and 2014, securing his public support for projects brought before the Palm Springs City Council, specifically The Dakota, the Desert Fashion Plaza, The Morrison and Vivante.

Payments to Pougnet were allegedly drawn directly from accounts maintained by Meaney’s Union Abbey Co. and Wessman Development Inc., according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors told the grand jury in 2019 Pougnet planned to move to Colorado to join his husband and two children when his first term ended in 2011, but the two developers allegedly put him “on their payroll” in order to gain his votes of confidence in their projects.

“This is a case about political corruption in Palm Springs,” Deputy District Attorney Amy Barajas told the grand jury, according to transcripts later released to the public. “What kind of corruption? Well, one of the oldest stories in the book. Some wealthy real estate developers get a politician on their payroll, and in exchange they get favorable treatment, inside access and large contracts.”  

She said that Pougnet was hesitant about remaining for a second term as mayor. The grand jury was shown an email exchange from May 30, 2011, between him and Meaney, in which the latter wrote, “Everything is in place. The big question from everyone is … what are your plans?”

Pougnet’s response appeared to indicate their relationship hinged on the defendant securing something in return.   

“I need to know that an offer is very real, that I am an employee somewhere that has a letter `of employment,”’ Pougnet wrote. “That will make a decision much easier. As you know, a month ago, this was not even an option on the table with me and Christopher. Staying (in Palm Springs) has huge family implications considering I would be going back and forth.”  

The then-mayor allegedly accepted $225,000 as an initial incentive to remain active in local government. 

If convicted, Pougnet could face up to 19 years in state prison, while Wessman could face 12 years, under sentencing guidelines. However, given that neither man has prior felony convictions, each may qualify for lower-level penalties, including suspended jail terms and probation.

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Kendall Flynn

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The Palm Springs Police Department is continuing to crack down on speeding in the Valley, especially after multiple rollover collisions near downtown.

Monday night, on Baristo Road and Sunrise Way, a car collided with the rear-end of another vehicle, sending it airborne before landing on its back.

While PSPD reported the driver was speeding, but PIO Lt. Mike Villegas said rollovers on this type of road are not common. He said busier highways or roads where there is less traffic, allowing higher speeds, like Highway 111, Palm Canyon Drive or Gene Autry Trail tend to see rollover collisions.

Last summer PSPD conducted “Operation Rearview Mirror” to focus on deterring speeding, and Villegas said it was successful. But now, as they see the issue persist, he said it’s something they’re still working to improve, especially as they see more people in the Valley.

“Last week we did an operation on Wednesday. It was a traffic enforcement operation to reduce speeding again because we have identified that speeding is a big problem,” Villegas said. “People coming in and leaving our city for various reasons. Either touring our city or attending events and so forth.”

Wednesday’s efforts gave out over 200 citations, but Villegas said collisions are seasonal in the Valley because they are a mix of local and tourist traffic.

He said the more people visiting, the higher likelihood somebody will not drive safe. This requires drivers to be more cognizant, defensive and aware of the stakes.

“Drive safe. Because when you crash and if you kill somebody, you’re not just taking that person’s life, but it causes it has a ripple effect that you take many people’s lives,” Villegas said. “And that’s a constant theme, not just in Palm Springs, but throughout the Valley and in our county.” 

PSPD said DUI’s, speeding and failing to yield at left turns are the three primary factors in collisions in the Valley, leading officials to start safety campaigns.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more information.

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Shay Lawson

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ)  – Riverside County supervisors approved the proposed Coachella Valley Power Agency-Joint Powers Authority, or CVPA-JPA, on Tuesday.

The CVPA-JPA establishes a new governing authority comprised of the county and multiple cities within the Coachella Valley, with the goal of eventually reducing power bills for residents.

Supervisor V. Manuel Perez released a press release on Tuesday stating:

“Along with the County of Riverside, the City of La Quinta has joined the JPA, and the Indio City Council will be considering joining the JPA at its meeting tomorrow. The JPA provides the ability for additional members, including Tribal nations and more cities, to join.”

Indio Councilmember Waymond Fermon said Indio currently has a long-term agreement with IID, the Indio Electric Finance Authority (IEFA).

“In 2023 the city of Indio took the initiative to work with IID to form our own Joint Power Authority in respect to addressing some of the concerns that we had in the city of Indio with power, infrastructure needs, reliability, redundancy and of course growth,” Fermon said.

He also said joining the CVPA-JPA will enhance the city’s power.

“It will still keep our rates low,” Fermon said. “That’s something that’s very important to our council. It’s very important to the other cities that we continue to have affordable rates.”

Indio’s vote on Wednesday could officially launch the CVPA-JPA.

Stay with News Channel 3 for the latest on whether it moves forward.

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City News Service

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KESQ) – Five people were facing federal charges today in connection with an alleged maritime human-smuggling event that killed three people — including a teenage boy — off the coast of northern San Diego County and left a 10-year-old girl missing and presumed dead.

Emergency crews responding to the mass-casualty boating accident at about 7 a.m. Monday found the bodies of 18-year-old Marcos Lozada-Juarez, Gorgonio Placido-Diaz, 55, and Prince Patel, 14, on the Del Mar shoreline, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office and a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.   

Lozada-Juarez and Gorgonio Placido-Diaz were Mexican nationals, and Prince was from India and traveling with his parents and younger sister, the court document states. All three drowned, the medical examiner reported.   

Eight migrants initially missing following the accident were eventually located, but the deceased teen’s sibling remains unaccounted for and is believed to have died in the accident.

Paramedics took four of the survivors to medical centers for treatment of injuries ranging in severity from minor to critical, according to the Encinitas Fire Department, which responded to the emergency along with its counterparts from Del Mar and Solana Beach. Later in the morning, two other people who identified themselves as having been in the traveling party were located and taken to a hospital for evaluations.   

At about 10:45 p.m. Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its daylong search of hundreds of square miles of ocean and shoreline for any still-missing victims of the accident.

Prosecutors say two of the five people who allegedly took part in facilitating the smuggling event were arrested on the beach near the scene of the rescue operation.

Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva, 36, and Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna, 30, both of Mexico, admitted piloting the vessel and smuggling 15 people into the United States, according to a probable-cause statement attached to a complaint filed in San Diego federal court.

The other three defendants, Melissa Jennelle Cota, 33, Gustavo Lara, 32, and Sergio Rojas-Fregoso, 31, all of Mexico, were arrested Monday night in Chula Vista, officials said.

A separate complaint states that an SUV was spotted near the accident scene in Del Mar and traveling off, possibly after the driver picked up some of the survivors of the capsizing. The vehicle was found Monday parked off Flower Street in Chula Vista.

Two other vehicles nearby were stopped by Border Patrol agents, leading to the arrests of the three defendants, as well as the detention of the remaining undocumented migrants.

One migrant told investigators he planned to pay $10,000 to be smuggled into the United States, while another said he agreed to pay $13,000, according to one of the court documents in the case.

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