L.A. Now Live: Omar Bradley back in Compton limelight, mayor’s race

Omar Bradley is among several mayoral candidates looking to lead Compton out of its current financial troubles. Join us as we discuss Bradley’s candidacy -- and the state of Compton’s mayoral race -- with Los Angeles Times reporter Abby Sewell at 9 a.m.

Bradley has returned to Compton politics somewhat more subdued than when he was known as the “gangster mayor,” but he says he is ready for another stint at City Hall. Never mind that he was sent to prison in 2004 on charges of misappropriating about $7,500 in public funds for items such as golf balls, cigars and in-room movies at a hotel.

An appeals court overturned his conviction last year, saying prosecutors had not proved that Bradley knew he was breaking the law. That left him free to run for office again — but prosecutors plan to retry him.

His next court date is eight days after Compton’s April 16 primary election.

Bradley is part of a crowded field running for Compton mayor. The slate includes Rodney Allen Rippy, a former child star who appeared in Jack in the Box commercials in the 1970s; B. Kwaku Duren, a civil rights attorney who once organized with the Black Panthers; former Compton City Clerk Charles Davis, who testified against Bradley in his first trial; and William Kemp and Lynn Boone, a pair of longtime Compton activists who have launched repeated recall attempts against the current mayor, Eric Perrodin.

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