A criminal trial was scheduled to start Wednesday for the former chief of police for the Port of Los Angeles on federal corruption charges.
Ronald Jerome Boyd, 57, of Torrance, was indicted last April in Los Angeles on charges of wire fraud and making false statements to the FBI. His trial was expected to begin Tuesday but was delayed until Wednesday.
Boyd, who was chief of police at the busiest container port in the country for more than a decade, retired from the force in November. He is accused of hiding his links to a software company that he helped to obtain a contract with the port.
His attorney did not immediately answer a request for comment.
Federal prosecutors allege that Boyd, who once worked as a valet to singer Ray Charles, defrauded the city "by means of bribery and kickbacks" and provided confidential information about the port to the software vendor, the indictment states.
He is accused of helping the software developer obtain a contract with the city of Los Angeles while forming an undisclosed joint venture with the company and then lying about it in an interview with federal agents.
"The city and Port of Los Angeles will fully cooperate in the investigation," Gene Seroka, the port's executive director, said when the charges were announced.
