Lobbyist’s payment for lawmaker’s breast augmentation was legal, panel says

A ruling by a state commission has capped an ugly battle involving an El Monte City Council member, a onetime lobbyist she used to call a friend, and the $1,100 the woman gave the lawmaker to help pay for breast augmentation surgery.

A letter from the Fair Political Practices Commission closed out the case against Councilmember Victoria Martinez Muela, who had been accused of accepting the payment for the surgery in late 2016 and then failing to disclose it on financial statements.

“The Enforcement Division found that the $1,100 payment you accepted was not a ‘gift,’ ” commission counsel Alex Rose wrote in the Oct. 11 letter to Martinez Muela. “Therefore, the allegations have been disproven, and we are closing this matter with no further action.”

The Times wrote in 2021 of the saga surrounding Martinez Muela and former lobbyist Sigrid Lopez, who met at a political event in 2011 and went on to become close friends — so close that Lopez helped finance the surgery, which the council member said was needed due to a medical condition.

The complaint that the councilwoman had failed to disclose the $1,100 payment on financial statements was made by Andre Quintero, a prosecutor with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. Quintero, a former El Monte mayor, and Martinez Muela have previously clashed. As part of the complaint, Lopez signed a sworn declaration about the money for the surgery.

The allegation was referred at the time to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, though charges were never filed against Martinez Muela, who never denied accepting the payment for the surgery.

The falling-out between the two women revolved around a decision by the councilwoman to vote against allowing the legal sale of marijuana in El Monte, a cause that had been championed by Lopez. The former lobbyist now owns her own cannabis businesses.

Martinez Muela did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Times staff writer Adam Elmahrek contributed to this report.