Burbank City Councilwoman Stacey Murphy will be arraigned Thursday in
Pasadena Superior Court after being charged Tuesday with one count of
possessing a controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of child
endangerment.
Murphy, 47, is free on $100,000 bail after being arrested July 13,
after police found cocaine, three handguns and 900 rounds of
ammunition in her home on Lima Street in Burbank, where the mother of
three lives with her 12-year-old son. The handguns were registered to
her boyfriend, Glendale resident Scott Schaffer, who is in federal
custody awaiting an Aug. 30 trial.
Deputy District Attorney Thomas Krag filed the case Tuesday, said
Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's
Office.
"When we reviewed the case and the evidence, these were the
charges that we felt were warranted," Robison said.
Krag did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
If convicted, Murphy faces three years in state prison and will
have to resign from her seat on the Burbank City Council. Murphy has
served on the Burbank City Council since May 1997 and has served as
mayor twice. She was reelected to the council in February with 60% of
the vote in the primary election.
Murphy's arrest was part of an investigation into the Vineland
Boyz street gang. A member of the gang, David Garcia, is facing
murder charges in the November 2003 shooting death of Burbank Police
Officer Matthew Pavelka.
The investigation led police to Schaffer after a Vineland Boyz
gang member was found in possession of a handgun registered to
Schaffer, which had not been reported stolen. Schaffer is suspected
of trading handguns to members of the Vineland Boyz street gang in
exchange for cocaine.
Murphy and her attorney, Rickard Santwier, did not return calls
for comment Tuesday.
In a statement released July 19, Murphy apologized for the
distraction her arrest caused the City Council and pledged to serve
out the remainder of her term, but said she would not attend City
Council meetings until she had appeared in court.
