ACORN sting activist to pay $100K

Posted 5:47 PM, March 8, 2013, by , Updated at 07:56am, March 9, 2013
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SAN DIEGO –  The couple behind controversial videos that brought down the organization ACORN by setting up a sting operation is forced to pay up in a civil lawsuit.

ACORN sting activist to pay $100KThe conservative political activists set out to show government waste by creating incriminating under-cover videos. Their plan worked, ACORN is gone, but the two activists settled the case for $150,000 dollars.

“Trust the Mexicans! Come on.” Says, Juan Carlos Vera, on a video clip shot from a hidden camera.

The undercover videos shot in several states including here in San Diego literally brought down ACORN, a national organization that worked with low income individuals, offering assistance in everything from housing to taxes to immigration.

“My job is working with community and help people.” Said Vera from his attorney office in San Diego.

Juan Carlos Vera, who’s featured in the video, worked for ACORN San Diego.

He was videotaped without his knowledge in 2009 by a couple posing as a prostitute and a pimp.

“O’Keefe and Giles decided they would do something outrageous and audacious and ultimately unjust to ACORN,” said Attorney Eugene Iredale.

James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles are conservative political activists and were  allegedly trying to illustrate government waste by federally funded programs like ACORN. In the video, they ask Vera’s help in their plan to smuggle underage girls from Mexico to the United States. The video is edited for dramatic effect, which is misleading.

Vera, who speaks limited English says he didn’t understand what the couple was asking, but he knew enough to call National City Police as soon as they left his office.

“Mr. Vera decided to play along,” said Iredale, adding, “within 20 minutes of the time O’Keefe left his office the police had been notified.”

According to an investigation into ACORN by then California  Attorney General, Jerry Brown, Vera was videotaped on August 18, 2009. The video aired on national media one month later on Sept 17th the same day Vera was fired from ACORN.

“It’s like a (Spanish) translates, nightmare,” said Vera.

It’s illegal in California to videotape a person without their consent. Vera sued O’Keefe and Giles. Giles settled last year for $50,000 dollars and O’Keefe just settled for $100,000 dollars.

“Recklessly they went forward and published these videos,” said Iredal.  “And O’Keefe said in part of the settlement that he regrets any pain he caused Mr. Vera.”

Describing sleepless night and panic attacks, Vera said, “they only care to destroy ACORN so they used me for that.”

This was not the first time though that ACORN was the target of an investigation, however, in 2008 it was found that some of their workers falsified documents when registering people to vote.