Records:

Huntington Beach City Council candidate Gregg DeLong, who is in the midst of a heated legal dispute with the city and Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, was convicted in connection with a 2000 extortion scandal and served time in federal prison, court records state.

DeLong and two other managers at the Costa Mesa mortgage lender Ditech were arrested by FBI agents in May 2000 and fired shortly after, according to news reports. The three were accused of extorting $11,451 in kickbacks from a Pittsburgh real estate company. The trio threatened to stop using the company until it agreed to pay them and put the father-in-law of a Ditech executive on its payroll, according to the reports.

DeLong was convicted Oct. 11, 2001, in Pittsburgh federal court of violating the Travel Act, which prohibits interstate travel in aid of racketeering or an unlawful business enterprise. He was fined $1,100 and sentenced to a two-month term in prison, court records state. Federal Bureau of Prisons records state DeLong was released April 17, 2002.

DeLong said he acknowledged the public record but considered it a thing of the past.

“I believe the steps we take in our journey called life lead to the person we are,” he said. “I have learned from my mistakes and try to duplicate my successes. While we all attempt to never make a mistake, I strive to never make the same mistake twice.”

DeLong said he knew the conviction would come up as the election neared, but said he was a changed man.

“I knew it was something I would have to deal with at some point,” he said. “But with the kind of person I am, I try to do things right. I think the events of 10 years ago was something that was very dramatic in my life in forming the person I am today. I will still be in the running for City Council, and any impact it may have is up to the taxpayers in Huntington Beach.”

The city’s Charter and municipal code have no rules about the background of candidates, with the only requirements being that the candidate live in the city and be registered to vote there. Fredric Woocher, a lawyer with the Los Angeles firm Strumwasser & Woocher and an expert on election law, said DeLong’s past didn’t bar him from seeking an elected post.

“He’s eligible to register to vote again,” Woocher said. “He regains his right to vote, and he can run for office because the only qualifications in that regard are that you have to be an eligible voter.”