Things have heated up this week for the three city councilmembers who were indicted on charges of fraud, extortion and racketeering. According to the Federal Indictments, Ralph Inzunza, Charles Lewis and Michael Zucchet all accepted illegal campaign contributions from owners and employees of the Cheetahs strip club in exchange for working to loosen the “no touch” laws that affect the adult businesses. Today, Michael Galardi, the owner of Cheetahs, changed his plea to guilty on a single charge of wire fraud in a deal with prosecutors that requires him to testify against the three city councilmembers.

While many are calling for the councilmembers to resign, members of the GLBT community are rallying behind the men, who have stood up for the community in the last two years. The Democratic Club has endorsed Inzunza twice, once when he was seeking to replace Juan Vargas when he ran for the state assembly and then again last year when he ran as an incumbent.

“We worked very hard as a club to get Michael Zucchet elected,” Jess Durfee, the President of the San Diego Democratic noted. “He’s been a member of our club for six years and he regularly attends our meetings.… We all know him pretty well so there is a lot of loyalty to Michael and a lot of skepticism to the thought that he might be doing something illegal.”

The club did not endorse Charles Lewis because of his close ties to former San Diego City Councilmember George Stevens, who spoke out many times criticizing the GLBT community. However, Lewis has voted to support issues important to the GLBT community, including the needle exchange program and the city’s medical marijuana guidelines.

“I have supported and raised money for all three of these councilmen,” long time community activist Nicole Murray-Ramirez said. “I’m concerned that we’ve spent over a half a million dollars on this. I find it suspicious after living here for three decades that this is the most progressive council and the first time that we have had a democratic majority, [and] that all three of the councilmen who were indicted are Democrats.”

Most of the community members that the Gay and Lesbian Times talked to expressed concern over the fact that only the three democratic members of the city council were investigated even though Republican Jim Madaffer received more money from the strip club than any of the three indicted councilmembers.

“We’re so skeptical of John Ashcroft and the Department of Justice that there’s the thought that there might be a political motivation to all of this rather than actual concerns of law and order and justice,” Durfee said. “Three councilmembers were cited in this indictment. They are all three Democrats, they are all three young and they all three had incredible futures before them, prior to this happening. There is a Republican on the council who took lots of money from Cheetahs and Cheetahs employees and he’s not been under suspicion at all.”

In a press conference held on the day the indictments were handed down, Mayor Dick Murphy asked all San Diegans to withhold judgment until the councilmembers had their day in court.

This is not the first time that a corruption scandal has rocked the city council. In 1970 the mayor and entire city council were indicted during the Yellow Cab scandal. In the end all of those involved had their cases dismissed or were acquitted.

“One of my favorite parts of the constitution is the part about how you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Linda Barufaldi of the San Diego Democratic Club said. “I think it does a disservice to the council people, to the city of San Diego and the constitution to speculate about whether or not these people are guilty of crimes when we don’t have access to any evidence. I wish everybody would wait and see what the court determines.”

Cheetahs owner Michael Galardi’s plea bargain is the second in the case. Cheetahs manager John D’Intino pled guilty two days before the indictments were filed. Despite the prosecution’s mounting case against Inzunza, Zucchet and Lewis all three have maintained their innocence and say they are looking forward to their day in court.

“The other parties in the case are cutting deals and it’s going to come down to a he said, she said and who’s the jury going to believe,” Ben Dillingham said about the pending trial. “One hopes they don’t believe someone who has already copped a plea so that they are getting a shorter sentence, because they have every reason to lie through their teeth. You just don’t know what a jury is going to believe.”

No one from the GLBT community was willing to go on the record saying that they felt that the councilmembers had betrayed their trust in them but some were willing to say off the record that they did believe that they were guilty.