The former mayor of Anaheim, California, Harish “Harry” Singh Sidhu, has admitted to obstructing a federal corruption investigation.
This information was made public through a press release issued by the United States Central District of California Attorney’s Office.
Sidhu confessed to providing confidential details to individuals associated with the Angels Major League Baseball organization. This was done to facilitate a deal between the city and the baseball club for the purchase of Angels Stadium. In return, Sidhu was promised a $1 million campaign contribution.
The press release further revealed that Sidhu deliberately destroyed evidence and provided false information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during their probe into public corruption.
First Assistant United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally provided a summary of events: “While serving as Anaheim’s mayor, Mr. Sidhu took a series of actions that compromised the city’s negotiating position by providing confidential information and secretly working to influence the city’s decision-making process – all of which had a detrimental effect on the city and its residents.”
Court documents reveal that during the negotiation process, Sidhu persistently urged the MLB team for the $1 million, intending to utilize the funds for his forthcoming election campaign. A conversation secretly recorded by the FBI on January 28, 2022, captured Sidhu’s words:
“Because I am hoping to get at least a million from I’m going to push it. [Angels’ representative] actually asked me. He said, ‘What can I do for your election?’ I said, ‘Let me finish your deal first, and then we’ll talk about that.’ . . . So I’m going to be asking for a million dollars from him … For my election,” Sidhu said in a conversation secretly recorded by the FBI on January 28, 2022, according to the plea deal.
Marie Garvey, a spokesperson for the Angels, told The Associated Press: “It is important to note both the plea agreement along with the city’s investigation showed no evidence of any wrongdoing by the Angels organization.”
The deal, as negotiated by Sidhu, would have allowed the Angels to acquire the Anaheim-owned baseball park and an additional 151 acres for development at a cost of $325 million. However, they would only be required to pay $150 million in cash. As part of the agreement, the MLB team would have committed to staying in Anaheim until 2050.
The Daily Caller reported Sidhu will face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for obstruction of justice, 20 years for wire fraud, and five years for each of the false statement counts, according to the press release.
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