Melehat Rafiei, former head of the Orange County Democratic Party, was sentenced to six months in jail by a federal judge for attempted wire fraud.

Friday’s sentencing comes after Rafiei was arrested in 2019 and signed a plea agreement in 2023 admitting to the attempted fraud charge and also acknowledging she tried bribing two Irvine City Council members for favorable cannabis legislation – something she wasn’t charged for.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Aelle-Rocha also ordered three years of supervised release once Rafiei serves her time and a $10,000 fine.

“She was able to make her living because of our democracy,” Aelle-Rocha said during Friday’s sentencing hearing.

“Somewhere along the way she lost sight of this.”

The federal judge ordered Rafiei – a onetime Democratic powerbroker

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