NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Carol Gamble has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor related to her nominating petitions, prosecutors said Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

  • Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Carol Gamble has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor related to her nominating petitions

  • Prosecutors said that Gamble turned in nominating petitions for her re-election to the council that violated the law because she did not personally witness the signatures

  • Under her agreement, Gamble has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, perform 160 hours of community service and serve one year of probation

  • Gamble is a four-term mayor
 

Gamble turned in nominating petitions for her re-election to the council that violated the law because she did not personally witness the signatures, prosecutors said. If she is re-elected, she cannot take office and the city will have to hold a special election, prosecutors said.

Her attorney, Paul Meyer, characterized it as a mistake and said she immediately agreed to cooperate with law enforcement.

"Upon realizing her mistake, Ms. Gamble voluntarily contacted the District Attorney through counsel, and took immediate responsibility for her error," Meyer said. "She suspended her campaign and returned all campaign contributions. Her good-faith actions were communicated to the District Attorney. Ms. Gamble apologized to her supporters and has acknowledged her responsibility. As a good citizen, she stepped forward long before a case was filed, and did the right thing."

Prosecutors said that Gamble, a four-term mayor, has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, perform 160 hours of community service and serve one year of probation.

"American democracy relies on the absolute integrity of the electoral process," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. "Voters must have total confidence that every election is being carried out in a fair and unbiased manner. Interference in the electoral process in any manner and at any stage jeopardizes the will of the people being carried out while eroding the trust of voters that their vote counts."

Spitzer added, "I refuse to allow our electoral process to be subverted and exploited by anyone. The decision to file criminal charges against the candidate prior to an election is not a decision I made lightly but given the risk to the electoral process as well as the potential of the City of Rancho Santa Margarita having to pay for a special election should Gamble be re- elected, there was no choice but to file criminal charges prior to the election and alert voters of her ineligibility to run for City Council."

Fullerton City Council candidate Scott Edward Markowitz pleaded guilty earlier this month to a misdemeanor for the same crime and was sentenced to 160 hours of community service.