Former San Diego mayor to be arraigned in federal court

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Former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor is set to be arraigned Thursday in federal court on a charge of financial fraud, according to the court calendar.

O’Connor, 66, a Democrat, served as mayor from 1986 to 1992. She also served on the city council and the port commission.

The court calendar lists O’Connor’s lawyer as Eugene Iredale, one of the city’s top defense attorneys, and the prosecutor as Assistant U.S. Atty. Phillip Halpern, chief of the major fraud and special investigations division.

According to the calendar, O’Connor will appear ‘for arraignment on information [and] change of plea.’ That language often suggests a guilty plea as part of a bargain between prosecutors and defense attorneys prior to a formal charge being brought.

The U-T San Diego newspaper and TV station KFMB reported that O’Connor is to be charged with money laundering involving a transaction of $10,000 or more. No further details were given.

O’Connor, who has kept a low profile since leaving office, was married to Jack-in-the-Box founder and philanthropist Robert O. Peterson, who died in 1994.

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-- Tony Perry in San Diego