Compton,Ca Mayor Pays $11,000 (Death Row)

[mrtonguetwista]

COMPTON, Calif. (AP) - Compton Mayor Eric Perrodin paid an $11,000 fine to the state Fair Political Practices Commission after he failed to report the same amount that was donated by Death Row Records.

The commission, which reached an agreement with Perrodin last month to settle the case, called it a ``serious violation'' of the law. The commission is expected to formalize the action Thursday.

The findings have drawn questions among officials at the Los Angeles district attorney's office where Perrodin has worked for the past 10 years. He handled part of a criminal case against one of Death Row's leading artists, Nate Dogg, about the same time he received the unreported contributions of $3,500 and $7,500 from the record company.

``We're going to pull the file and look at them,'' said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. ``Even an appearance of a conflict of interest would violate our policies.''

Perrodin blamed an inexperienced campaign committee for failing to disclose the contributions and denied a connection between the campaign money and his involvement in the case against Nate Dogg, whose real name is Nathaniel Hale.

``It's not serious, not at all,'' Perrodin said. ``There was a misunderstanding of what we needed to do and the time frame in which we needed to do it.''

Robison confirmed that Perrodin was one of the prosecutors who handled a case filed against Hale in March 2001. She said Hale entered a plea of no contest in August of that year to a weapons violation.

Perrodin said Hale allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend, threatened her with a gun and then set fire to a car. Perrodin had been transferred off the case by the time Hale entered his plea.