Report: FBI raids homes of political consultant, union leader – San Diego Union-Tribune

Report: FBI raids homes of political consultant, union leader  San Diego Union-Tribune

Federal agents seized computers, phones and other devices from the homes of Jesus Cardenas and Kelvin Barrios after executing search warrant last week, according to a report. Two years after admitting he cheated the U.S. government out of more than $175,000, and avoided a prison term in favor of a work-furlough program and probation, political consultant Jesus Cardenas is again under criminal investigation, according to a new report. Federal agents turned up at Cardenas’ home in Chula Vista early Thursday morning to execute a search warrant and seized a trove of computers, cellphones and other electronic devices, the online newspaper La Prensa San Diego reported late Tuesday. At the same time, the FBI executed a search warrant at the home of Kelvin Barrios, a former San Diego City Council candidate and top official at the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 89, La Prensa reported.

The union is a powerful force in San Diego County politics, raising and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for local campaigns and maintaining an outsized influence in the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee. The San Diego office of the U.S. Department of Justice declined to discuss the search warrants or any potential criminal investigation into Cardenas or Barrios. The agency “can’t comment on whether or not investigations exist,” spokesperson Kelly Thornton