Former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar Friday pleaded guilty to federal criminal corruption charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Huizar has admitted to orchestrating a racketeering scheme that enriched himself and others as they sought to monopolize political power at the expense of Los Angeles residents,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada in a statement. “This is one of the most wide-ranging and brazen public corruption cases ever uncovered in this district, demonstrating that our office will use all the tools of the federal government to vigorously prosecute crooked politicians whose betrayal of the public trust significantly erodes confidence in our local government.”
A federal grand jury indicted the former councilman July 30, 2020, on 34 counts of corrupt practices related to his powerful city position.
DOJ attorneys filed the grand jury indictment against Huizar and four developers November 12, 2020, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Charges ranged from Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Conspiracy and Honest Services Mail and Wire Fraud, Bribery and making false statements.
A plea agreement between Huizar, 54, of Boyle Heights and the Justice Department was filed Thursday in District Court, according to a DOJ statement. The disgraced L.A. politician pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and one count of tax evasion.
Huizar, a Democrat, represented Council District 14, which includes downtown Los Angeles and surrounding communities, since 2005. For several years, he chaired the city’s influential Planning and Land Use Management (“PLUM”) Committee. He lost that powerful position in November 2018 after Federal Bureau of Investigation agents executed a search of his city offices and personal residence.
Agents who searched his home seized approximately $129,000 cash found stashed in Huizar’s closet. The former L.A. City councilman received the money from a Chinese billionaire and another businessperson seeking favors from him, according to the indictment.
Among the multitude of corruption allegations, the indictment alleges that Huizar illegally accepted more than $800,000 in benefits from Chairman E, a Chinese billionaire who runs a multinational development firm and who owns a hotel in Huizar’s district. Chairman E provided $600,000 in collateral to fund a settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Huizar by a former CD-14 staffer, allegations that threatened his 2015 reelection campaign, according to the indictment.
The indictment outlines how Huizar concealed illegal benefits. He taught his special assistant how to avoid bank reporting requirements and used family members to launder bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, court records show. Huizar also lied on a bank loan application and failing to declare his illicit benefits when he filed tax returns and ethics disclosure forms. Huizar allegedly engaged in obstructionist conduct, including attempting to influence other witnesses and lying to federal prosecutors and the FBI.
Huizar received at least $1.5 million in bribes and other benefits, which included casino gambling chips, prostitution and escort service, political contributions and expensive meals and travel accommodations, according to the DOJ statement.
The former councilman also admitted to accepting a $600,000 bribe in the form of collateral from a billionaire real estate developer, the feds added. The money was for Huizar to confidentially settle a pending sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former staff member of his.
“Mr. Huizar’s actions, to include accepting a staggering amount of bribe money and lavish gifts, eroded the trust in the office he held for many years,” said Donald Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Angelenos deserve better than being used for the personal enrichment of politicians grifting the system and foreign investors whose currency is corruption. I’m proud of the investigators and prosecutors whose hard work led to today’s admission of guilt.”
Huizar will be sentenced to between 9 and 13 years in prison if District Judge John Walter accepts the binding plea deal during the scheduled April 3 hearing. He further agreed to forfeit the $129,000 found during the search of his home and DOJ prosecutors will request greater than $1 million in restitution for the city of Los Angeles.
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