Stockton Mayor Charged With Providing Alcohol to Minors

Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva was charged Thursday with providing alcohol to minors last summer -- an act authorities said came during a strip poker game at a camp for underprivileged children run by the mayor.

He was arrested at his Stockton youth camp at Silver Lake in Amador County, KCRA reports.

Silva, 42, was charged with eavesdropping, contributing to the delinquency or a minor, providing alcohol to a minor and cruelty to a child by endangering health, his lawyer, Mark Reichel, told The Associated Press.

The charges revolve around Silva's involvement in a strip poker game, the Stockton Record reported, citing information from the Amador County District Attorney's Office.

Here's more from KCRA:

The incidents for which Silva is being charged happened between Aug. 5 and Aug. 9, 2015, at the Stockton Silver Lake Camp, according to the Amador County District Attorney.

The arrest stems from a September 2015 FBI investigation where Silva’s cellphone was seized by Homeland Security investigators at San Francisco International Airport as he got off a flight from China.

One of the clips on Silva’s phone contained audio of several people during a strip poker game in Silva’s bedroom at the camp, the Amador County district attorney said. One of the participants was 16 years old.

The district attorney said the audio revealed that participants in the poker game did not want to be recorded.

Witnesses stated that Silva supplied alcohol to a number of underage counselors at the camp as well, according to the Amador County district attorney.

Silva was free on bail and Reichel said he will plead not guilty.

Prosecutors and sheriff's officials did not return calls from the AP seeking further details.

Allen Sawyer, another attorney for Silva, told the AP his client will be allowed to return to the summer camp to finish the season.

"He absolutely denies these charges, he's angry and he's going to fight it," Sawyer said. "But his biggest concern right now is not to disrupt the at-risk youth up at the camp."

Silva is seeking a second term in November as mayor of the river port city of 300,000 people.

Before Silva was charged, the Stockton Police Officers' Association endorsed his opponent, Michael Tubbs, citing his commitment to cooperation with police in establishing good practices, the Stockton Record reported.

The charges came a week after the newspaper reported that a gun stolen from Silva's home during a burglary was linked to the killing of 13-year-old Rayshawn Harris in Stockton early last year. The mayor is accused of not reporting the gun as missing until a month after the boy was killed.

Reichel said Silva had nothing to do with the killing and was simply the victim of a crime when his gun was taken.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.