But in the end, Superior Court Judge Henry Hall ruled Wednesday that none of that counted. What mattered, the judge said, was that the six had illegally raised their salaries to 20 times above what state law allows and would have to stand trial on nearly two dozen felony counts of misappropriation of public funds. He ordered them to return to court March 2 for arraignment.

In a lengthy, strongly worded statement from the bench that several defense attorneys said caught them by surprise, Hall suggested the six could have been charged with even more crimes. He also ordered that they stay 100 yards away from City Hall and not engage in any government activity involving Bell.

"I find this is a matter of grave public safety to the people of Bell," he said in issuing his stay-away order. He added that he had considered putting five of the six who are free on bail back in jail to ensure compliance, but decided not to go that far.

When told by Mayor Oscar Hernandez's attorney that his order would effectively shut down Bell's city government, Hall replied that Hernandez and other officials had been skipping City Council meetings for months since the Bell salary scandal broke, preventing the council from having enough members to meet anyway.