Disgraced Bell City Councilman Victor Bello sent a letter to investigators last May warning that officials there were involved in bribery, voter fraud and “unethical retirement arrangements,” according to California Watch.

Why is this coming to light now? Maybe because Bello was subsequently arrested as part of the District Attorney's case against city officials for alleged misappropriation of public funds.

Bellow's attorney wants it known that his client, at least on paper, tried to do the right thing — and that the D.A.'s office eventually ignored him.

California Watch:

L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley responded to Bello about two weeks after he sent the letter, asking for more information. Bello responded with further details in mid-June 2009 but heard nothing further from Cooley's office until nearly nine months later, in March 2010, according to his attorney, Stanley L. Friedman.

The story indicates that it might have been Bello's letter that sparked the Bell salary scandal, in which city officials, including the $1.5-million-earning city manager Robert Rizzo, were found to have been making exorbitant salaries.

So what's in it for Bello? Jail, of course.

If only he could have been Bell's police chief, Randy Adams (salary: $457,000) instead.

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