Guilty plea from Hermosa Beach bar owner to conspiracy, gambling charges
The courthouse for the Southern District of California in San Diego.
Jeff Bellandi, a co-owner of Watermans bar and restaurant on Pier Plaza, pleaded guilty in a San Diego federal court earlier this month to charges connected to a wide-ranging criminal investigation of an illegal gambling and drug trafficking ring.
According to a statement from three assistant U.S. Attorneys with the Southern District of California, Bellandi pleaded guilty on Jan. 10 to operating an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The former charge carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, and the latter charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years.
Bellandi was not charged with any drug offenses. His plea agreement, entered Jan. 11, is not yet available to the public, making the extent of his involvement unclear. Court filings indicate that his sentencing hearing will be in San Diego March 20 before Judge William Q. Hayes at 9 a.m.
Bellandi had previously pleaded not guilty after being arrested in January of last year. His attorney, David Paquin of Manhattan Beach, said at the time that the charges were inflated and inaccurate. In a phone interview Wednesday, Paquin said he was limited in what he could say about the plea because sentencing was still pending.
The case was “extremely complex,” Paquin said, with an “opening salvo” of discovery more than 800,000 pages long.
Adding to the complication is the fact that not all of those originally arrested have resolved the cases against them. Of the 21 people originally indicted in the case, all but four have now pleaded guilty, prosecutors said. Those four — Dylan Anderson, Luke Fairfield, Derek Loville and Khalid Petras — are set to begin trial on Feb. 14. Fairfield is a San Diego CPA and the brother of Eli Fairfield, who is listed as the branch manager of New American Funding in Manhattan Beach. Loville is a former professional football player.
Fairfield’s attorney has filed a motion to continue, which is now being considered. Whether Bellandi would testify in the upcoming trial would be up to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Bellandi was indicted in connection with the prosecution of ODOG, a crime syndicate led by Owen Hanson, a former Redondo Union High School volleyball standout and member of USC’s national champion football team under then-coach Pete Carroll.
On the same day Bellandi entered his plea, Hanson pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and racketeering charges, which carry maximum penalties of life in prison, prosecutors said. Hanson admitted to leading a criminal conspiracy linked to gambling extortion and international drug trafficking, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, heroin and other drugs.
According to accounts in the Los Angeles Times, Hanson announced plans to withdraw the plea the day after entering it, claiming he had been deceived. But he subsequently reversed course again, apologizing on Tuesday to the presiding judge and stating that his plea was knowing and voluntary.