CalPERS Pension Fraud Defendant's Death Likely A Suicide At Nevada Gun Club

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Police say a defendant in a bribery scandal involving the nation's largest public pension fund appears to have shot and killed himself at a Nevada gun club.

Reno, Nevada, police officer Tim Broadway said Wednesday that detectives were investigating the death Tuesday of Alfred Villalobos as an apparent suicide.

Villabos' attorney, Bruce Funk, said earlier that his client died after a prolonged illness. He was 71.

Villalobos was accused of giving bribes to Fred Buenrostro Jr., a former chief executive of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, in exchange for Buenrostro's help in getting CalPERS to make investment decisions that benefited Villalobos' clients.

Villalobos pleaded not guilty to fraud charges and related counts. He had been scheduled to go on trial Feb. 23.