Alatorre and Roos won't be charged for lobbyist violations

Former City Councilman Richard Alatorre and his lobbying partner, ex-Assemblyman Mike Roos, won't be prosecuted by the DA for violating the law that requires lobbyists to register and declare their clients, even though prosecutors concluded they did the deeds. Indeed, "Investigators said Roos and Alatorre went to 'extreme lengths' to avoid registering Alatorre as a lobbyist, identifying him as a consultant," David Zahniser reports in the LAT.

Cooley's Public Integrity Division concluded "without doubt" that Alatorre was an unregistered lobbyist at City Hall from 2003 to 2007 — an activity that qualifies as a misdemeanor violation of the city's ethics law. But the office also determined that his various efforts to avoid registering with the Ethics Commission did not rise to the level of a felony conspiracy.

It's now up to the city's Ethics Commission to decide whether to seek penalties against Alatorre, who has since registered. Alatorre and Roos had no comment.