Villalobos in poor health; trial delayed
By Dale Kasler, Sacramento Bee
Alfred Villalobos, a key figure in the CalPERS bribery scandal, has had his criminal trial postponed because of poor health.
The Lake Tahoe businessman and his co-defendant, former CalPERS Chief Executive Fred Buenrostro, will now go on trial April 28 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, a judge ruled Wednesday. Trial was originally set for March 3.
Villalobos’ lawyer, Bruce Funk, said in a court filing this week that Villalobos was hospitalized much of last fall in the Reno area and spent some time in hospice care. “Apparently, Mr. Villalobos suffered from acute ammonia poisoning due to the various medications he was taking for his neurological illnesses,” Funk wrote in his court filing. “Around that time period in November, he was completely unresponsive in the hospital for days.”