Chula Vista Councilwoman Andrea Cardenas and her brother Jesus appeared in San Diego Superior Court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges against them related to the obtaining and use of Paycheck Protection Program funds.
The court appearance came just days after Andrea Cardenas had fellow council members Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Vice Mayor Jose Preciado call for her resignation.
The call for the 31 year old to vacate her position came less than a week after the District Attorney’s office filed a number of felony charges in superior court against Cardenas and her brother Jesus, a political consultant.
“After reviewing the charges against Councilmember Cardenas and considering the serious nature of the alleged crimes, it is clear to me that she must resign from City Council. Ensuring public trust is crucial for all elected officials. Maintaining that trust under the current circumstances is simply impossible,” the mayor posted on his Facebook page.
The charges, resulting from an investigation by the DA’s Public Integrity Unit and Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General, Covid Fraud Unity, are crimes associated with a government loan they obtained for their political consulting business, Grassroots Resources. In court records, it states that both did knowingly commit the crime of Grand Theft by False Pretense by fraudulently obtaining $176, 277 for the Paycheck Protection Program.
The indictment alleges Jesus Cardenas,40, wrote a check to Andrea Cardenas for $35,000 which she deposited in her personal account and then wrote a check made out to “Andrea Cardenas for CV City Council D4” in the amount of $33,500 from her personal account.
A day after McCann issued his statement, Chula Vista councilman and Deputy Mayor Jose Preciado sent out his own call for Cardenas to resign.
Preciado wrote he was “stunned by the disturbing charges of fraud and wrongdoing” against the councilwoman.
“These are very serious allegations that undermine the fundamental trust the public must have in their elected leaders. Personally, I am saddened and struggling to reconcile these charges with a person I’ve known and admired since she was a passionate community activist in high school, long before she was ever in political office or a position of power. Andrea has the right to due process and the presumption of innocence in court, but the right thing for her to do now is to resign from the City Council,” the vice mayor said of his fellow Democrat.
Other charges filed against Andrea Cardenas include Grand Theft Of Personal Property, Conspiracy To Commit A Crime, Money Laundering, and three counts of Failure To File A Tax Return from 2020 to 2022.
“We became aware of many of the details of these allegations through local media outlets, who received a full copy of the complaint before we did,” she wrote in a statement issued this week. “Our American judicial system is built on the fundamental principle that our citizens are innocent until proven guilty. As someone who has spent more than half of my life working to support and elevate my community, I understand and respect the critical work that our District Attorney’s Office does to uphold the law. While the DA’s Office is tasked with the responsibility to protect our community and prosecute abusers of the law, as defendants, we are afforded the right to prove our innocence,” she continued. “My intent has never been to harm or disappoint those who believed in me, both in life and at the ballot box. Many conversations are taking place around me about me and what others think is the best way for me to move forward. I would like to make one thing very clear – my commitment to my community continues. As we move forward in this process, I hope to be given an opportunity by the media, folks in political circles, and, most importantly, my constituents to defend myself.”
If convicted, Andrea Cardenas faces up to five years and eight months in prison. Jesus Cardenas could serve up to four years and four months.
