Former school board member gets 14 years for pimping in sex-ring case

LOS ANGELES — A former Southern California school board member has been sentenced to 14 years and four months in prison for running a prostitution ring in his home.

Mike Rios, 42, was convicted of trying to get women and underage girls to work as prostitutes out of his home while he was sitting on the school board, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. 

Rios continued to serve as a member of the Moreno Valley school board and participated in meetings during his trial.

Officials are expected to meet next week to discuss removing Rios from the board and whether to hold a special election to replace him, reports NBC Los Angeles. 

Rios was convicted of 12 counts of pimping, six counts of insurance fraud, and five counts of pandering in a Feb 8 court appearance.

Prosecutors told NBC that three adult women worked for Rios as prostitutes and that Rios attempted to get another woman and two underage girls to also work for him as prostitutes.

In a phone interview from jail, Rios said that someone was falsely accusing him of crimes to prevent him from running for Moreno Valley City Council, reports NBC.

Moreno Valley Unified School District board president Cleveland Johnson told the Los Angeles Times that the sentencing was "a relief."

"There were a lot of things that Mr. Rios did that didn't make much sense," Johnson told the Times. "He really didn't care about us, or the district."