Former West Basin Water District President Sentenced to Prison

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The son of U.S. Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Torrance, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison today after being convicted of bribery and money laundering last fall, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Smith.


Keith McDonald, the former president of the West Basin Municipal Water District, was also fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution, Smith said. In October, a jury found McDonald guilty on four counts of mail fraud, two counts of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and three counts of money laundering.


The jury concluded McDonald paid three Carson City Council members $5,000 each in exchange for their vote on a $6 million bus service contract and received $30,000 in kickbacks in exchange for his support on a $3 million pipeline project. He also asked for $50,000 in contributions for his state Assembly campaign in exchange for supporting a political consulting contract.


McDonald was indicted in July 2003 with Tyrone Smith, a former board member of the WBMWD who pleaded guilty two years ago to extorting a $25,000 payment from a representative of New York financial services firm M.R. Beal & Co.

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