LOS ANGELES (MCT) — Officials in the small town of Cudahy took part in brazen and widespread corruption, including accepting cash bribes hidden in a shoe box, abusing drugs at City Hall and throwing out absentee ballots that favored election challengers, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors.

The allegations paint an alarming picture of a city government permeated by graft far more extensive than was laid out when three city officials were arrested last month for allegedly accepting $17,000 in bribes from a medical marijuana dispensary owner.