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The criminal trial of Angela Spaccia, 55, the former top-assistant to the city manager of Bell, continued today as Lourdes Garcia took the stand. Garcia was the former director of administrative services who admitted to signing off on forms that gave Spaccia monthly pay raises.

Spaccia and her boss, Robert Rizzo, were accused of circumventing funds from the city of Bell, California to give themselves larger salaries. Each blamed the other as the driving force behind the scheme. Earlier this month, Rizzo pleaded no contest to 69 felony charges. A plea of ‘no contest’ functions almost the same as a guilty plea, and Rizzo’s sentence was reduced from a possible 70 years to 10-12.

Now, Spaccia alone faces 13 felony charges, among them conspiracy and hiding and falsifying government records. The trial is meant to determine whether she was the mastermind behind the scheme or a victim of Rizzo.

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Harland Braun, Spaccia’s attorney, blamed Garcia as the architect of the plan. He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as stating that Garcia was the one Rizzo turned to for help whenever he “wanted to do something really crooked.” 

Garcia, who testified that she helped Spaccia set out a budget for the city, was granted immunity from the district attorney’s office.

In court, she admitted to signing forms that gave Spaccia monthly pay raises. She also acknowledged that Spaccia had taken it upon herself to change her title from “assistant to the CAO (chief administrative officer)” to “assistant CAO.”

“She told me (her title) was incorrect and that we needed to change it,” Garcia said on the stand. “My understanding was that there was no difference. She was doing the same duties as before.”

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According to the court documents, Spaccia had given herself four raises within a three-year period.

On Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman brought the jurors’ attention to an e-mail correspondence between Spaccia and Bell police chief Randy Adams while negotiating a contract.

According to the Times, Adams wrote to Spaccia:

“I am looking forward to seeing you and taking all of Bell’s money?! Okay…just a share of it!!”

She responded: “LOL…well you can have your share of the pie…just like us!! We will all get fat together…

Certainly Spaccia and Rizzo did not participate in the scandal alone: in March, five Bell city council members were found guilty of some counts of misappropriating public funds, by paying themselves to sit on commissions that rarely met. Rizzo and Spaccia brought in a combined 1.2 million annually in a city where one in four residents lives in poverty.

Spaccia’s trial will continue on Friday in the Criminal Courts Building, downtown Los Angeles.