Joseph B. Montoya

In 1968, he was elected to the La Puente City Council, serving until his election to the State Assembly.^[5] In 1970, Montoya ran for California State Assembly for the 50th district against incumbent William Campbell, and was endorsed by the Congress of Mexican American Unity.^[6][3] He lost the election, but two years later due to redistricting, the seat was now vacant. He won the election narrowly against his opponent, Kieth W. Miller, in 1972.^[7]

In 1978, Montoya announced that he would be challenging incumbent Alfred H. Song for the Democratic nomination for State Senate, using an investigation into Song by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for political corruption.^[8] Running as a "good government" candidate, Montoya defeated Song and won the Democratic nomination for State Senate in the 26th district.^[9]

Montoya got caught up in the BRISPEC sting operation and was convicted of all but three counts. He was pressured to resign in order to avoid an expulsion from Senate.^[10] On February 5, 1990, the Senate Rules Committee stripped him of his committee memberships and gave him the deadline of February 8 to resign; he resigned on February 9, saying in a speech that he would be cleared of the charges.^[11] He was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.^[12][13] In 1991, the Court of Appeals reversed the conviction of Montoya on five of the seven counts.^[14] The Court did not ask for Montoya to be released, but instead asked to reduce his sentence.^[15] He was released from prison in 1995.^[5]

Montoya was married to Pilar Gonzalez in 1960, with the couple living in La Puente.^[3] Sometime afterwards, he married Rita Stephenson. Montoya had four children and one stepchild. He died in Sacramento, California on June 21, 2022.