California Governor Jerry Brown issued a pardon Wednesday to former Democratic State Senator Roderick Wright, who lied about living in the district he had been elected to represent and became a symbol of corruption in the state capital.

Wright represented the Los Angeles community of Inglewood, but lived in the more affluent Baldwin Hills. State law requires state legislators to live in the areas they represent.

As Breitbart News noted in 2014 (original links):

Democratic State Senator Roderick Wright was sentenced on Friday to 90 days in jail, three years of probation, and 1,500 hours of community service after being convicted on federal perjury and voting fraud charges in January. Wright is also banned for life from holding public office. While running to represent California’s 25th State Senate district in 2008, Wright lied about his residence to qualify for the ballot, according to the Desert Sun. He claimed he lived in an Inglewood apartment complex within the 25th District, but prosecutors were able to show that Wright’s true residence was a Baldwin Hills home outside the district. According to the Los Angeles Times, Judge Kathleen Kennedy did not accept Wright’s argument that he had moved enough personal possessions into the Inglewood apartment complex to qualify it as his new home. Kennedy called Wright’s actions “arrogant,” as if he believed “the law doesn’t apply to him.”

Wright was only one of several Democratic state senators in trouble with the law. Leland Yee was caught in an elaborate scheme involving corruption and international gun-running, and Ronald Calderon was accused of bribery, pleading guilty to a lesser charge. Other Democrats also faced criminal accusations.