LOS ANGELES — Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Norco, filed an ethics complaint Thursday calling for a formal investigation of an unnamed member of the state Legislature who may have been part of a years-old cannabis bribery scheme in Baldwin Park.

According to documents made public by federal prosecutors last week, a public official who was unnamed — but whom the Los Angeles Times reported fits the profile of state Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park — was part of a cannabis bribery scheme when the official served on the Baldwin Park City Council and campaigned for state office in 2018.

A spokesman for Rubio, a Democrat, told The Times that the senator "has no reason to believe that she would be included in any criminal allegations."

While the federal documents do not name Rubio, The Times reported that they describe a public official who fits Rubio's profile: someone who was in a position to fire the Baldwin Park city attorney in 2017 and 2018, and was running for state office through November of 2018. The paper reported that Rubio is the only Baldwin Park official to meet all of those criteria.

In the Legislative Ethics complaint calling for a formal investigation, Essayli described the subject of the complaint as "an unindicted co-conspirator who received $30,000 in illegal cash payments to his or her campaign for state elected office, and was subsequently successful in being elected to the Legislature."

The assemblyman wrote that the unnamed person "is also accused of soliciting a bribe payment in the amount of $200,000 to secure a marijuana dispensary permit from the city of Baldwin Park."

Essayli wrote in his letter to state Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and state Senate Speaker pro tem Mike McGuire that although the plea agreement does not specifically name the legislator, "there is sufficient information contained within the record to warrant an immediate investigation by the Assembly and Senate Ethics Committees to identify the person described in the plea agreement, and to consider any and all appropriate disciplinary action."

Essayli issued a statement Thursday that said a member of the California Legislature "has been accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of soliciting and accepting bribes up to $200,000. Although this person's name has not been made public, I am calling on our legislature to immediately initiate an investigation to determine who this person is and to take the appropriate actions if it's determined they in fact did engage in unlawful conduct."

He continued, "We have a rotten culture of corruption in Sacramento. It's unacceptable for legislators to financially benefit from abusing their powers, while everyday Californians are struggling just to survive under the current Democrat regime. We need major reforms and accountability for our state elected officials."

The information came to light last week when documents unsealed in Los Angeles federal court showed two former city officials in Commerce and Baldwin Park pleaded guilty last year to separately bribing a now-convicted Baldwin Park politician in exchange for his votes and influence over his city's cannabis permitting process.

Edgar Cisneros, 42, of Montebello, who served as Commerce's city manager for six years, pleaded guilty to federal bribery. Robert Tafoya, 62, of Redondo Beach, who spent nine years as Baldwin Park's city attorney, pleaded guilty to federal bribery and tax evasion charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Dec. 5 after the criminal charges and plea agreements were unsealed.

Both Cisneros and Tafoya agreed to cooperate in ongoing public corruption investigations.

Tafoya alleged in his plea agreement that an unidentified Baldwin Park official requested that $30,000 in cash payments be donated to the official's campaign in the form of numerous small donations — in an apparent effort to give the appearance of broad community support. He alleges that in exchange, the official agreed to help Tafoya keep his job with the city.

According to The Times, the plea agreement states that Tafoya met with the unnamed Baldwin Park official in 2017 and provided the first $15,000 payment "in cash in an envelope." A second cash payment of the same amount came after the unnamed official "won his/her primary in June 2018," the document says, The Times reported. 

Campaign finance reports show two contributions totaling $2,600 from Tafoya & Garcia, LLP — a law firm belonging to Tafoya that is mentioned in the plea agreement — to Rubio's campaign in August and October 2018, The Times reported.

Rubio's office did not answer question from the Times about whether she is the unnamed individual Tafoya refers to in his plea, but Rubio spokesman Matthew Z'berg told the paper, "Mr. Tafoya has apparently made allegations against numerous individuals in order to reduce his sentence."

Z'berg told The Times that federal officials informed Rubio she is not a target in the government's probe, adding that she "volunteered hours of her time" aiding authorities in their investigation.

Z'berg also pointed to Rubio's record on the City Council voting against approval for a cannabis business, The Times reported.