Montebello, CA – Mike Touhey was arrested and charged with battery earlier today during a golf tournament organized by the Bicycle Club Casino Foundation in the City of Montebello, according to several sources present at the event.
The Montebello Police Department arrested Touhey and took him into custody at the Montebello Country Club after interviewing individuals directly involved in the incident as well as various witnesses.
Sources say the incident began when Touhey attempted to intimidate a municipal contractor who is applying for a lucrative commercial cannabis permit in West Covina. Sources indicated that Touhey was visibly upset and expressed his frustration at not being hired as a lobbyist for a cannabis applicant in West Covina. He allegedly stated that West Covina is “his city” while assaulting the lobbyist for the applicant in question.
Mike Touhey is a well-known lobbyist in the San Gabriel Valley and various Southeast Los Angeles cities. Insiders confirm that he allegedly began lobbying for Athens Services even before leaving the West Covina City Council. Operating as an acting member of the West Covina City Council, Touhey voted to give Athens Services a controversial 25-year exclusive contract according to public records.
Mike Touhey’s best-known client is Arman Gabay, the co-founder and managing partner of the Charles Company – a real estate firm that develops projects across Southern California. Gabay is currently facing federal criminal charges for allegedly bribing a county official.
According to cannabis industry sources, Touhey’s intense focus has been in forcibly seeking lobbying contracts within the emerging commercial cannabis licensing market specifically in the San Gabriel Valley as well as other Southern California cities. His most recent cannabis-related projects are taking place in the City of Baldwin Park where heated controversy has taken place due to an alleged distribution monopoly. The monopoly was granted to one of Mike Touhey’s associates at Rukli Inc., a Cannabis operator and sole distributor in the city.
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