LOS ANGELES—A former executive director of the Democratic Party of Orange County pleaded guilty April 14 to a felony charge for attempting to defraud one of her political consultancy firm’s clients.
Melahat Rafiei, 45, of Anaheim, entered her plea to attempted wire fraud in Los Angeles federal court. Sentencing was set for Oct. 13, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Rafiei, the principal and founder of Progressive Solutions Consulting, a Long Beach-based political consulting firm, also admitted that she agreed to bribe two members of the Irvine City Council—both on cannabis-related matters, court papers show.
She was a longtime leader in Orange County’s Democratic Party and formerly served as secretary of the California Democratic Party and state representative to the Democratic National Committee….