He kept thousands of text messages. He took photographs of the bribe money. He recorded his boss, then-Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar, demanding that money in a City Hall bathroom.
George Esparza, a central figure in Huizar's extensive pay-to-play operation, provided federal prosecutors with a massive trove of evidence for their investigation into bribery of downtown real estate developers who sought city support for their projects. He met with prosecutors more than two dozen times and provided crucial testimony in four separate trials, his lawyer said.
On Friday, U.S. Dist. Judge John F. Walter called Esparza's cooperation “nothing short of extraordinary.” He sentenced Esparza to three years of probation, even after noting that he himself had committed a long list of crimes.
“In my 20 years as a district court judge … I have not seen a defendant who has provided such extensive and helpful cooperation to the government,” Walter said.
Esparza, 38, faced the possibility of spending several years in prison. He initially lied to FBI agents who were investigating corruption at City Hall and ultimately pleaded guilty in 2020 to a single count of conspiracy to violate federal racketeering law.
For years, Esparza served as Huizar's front man, relaying the council member's demands for bribes or other financial benefits using coded language.
However, prosecutors recommended that Esparza not be sentenced to prison, saying he had taken responsibility for his crimes over the past six years. Without their cooperation, “the public may never have known the full extent” of Huizar, Asst.’s corruption. U.S. Attorney Susan Har told the judge.
Before the judge, Esparza apologized to his family, the city of Los Angeles and his neighborhood of Boyle Heights, where he grew up and still lives. He acknowledged that he had enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle thanks to his crimes.
“At that moment I was a mini-José Huizar,” he told the judge.
Huizar pleaded guilty in January to charges of tax evasion and extortion. He reported last month to Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc II, a low-security prison in Santa Barbara County, to serve a 13-year sentence.
For several years, Esparza accompanied Huizar on trips to Las Vegas with Chinese real estate developer Wei Huang, who was seeking to develop a 77-story skyscraper in Huizar's district. Esparza and Huizar received luxurious hotel rooms, expensive meals, casino chips, prostitutes and other benefits from Huang, according to Esparza's plea agreement, which he signed in 2020.
As an intermediary for Huizar, Esparza served as an intermediary for another bribery scheme, this one involving the developer of a planned 20-story residential tower at Hill and Olympic in downtown Los Angeles. That developer, Dae Yong Lee, was sentenced to six years for organizing a $500,000 bribe.
Esparza also reaped financial benefits of his own, including at least $48,000 in consulting payments from an entrepreneur seeking to sell home automation products to developers of downtown high-rises.
Friday's sentencing was the third in five days for participants in Huizar's so-called “criminal enterprise.”
On Monday, former lobbyist Morrie Goldman received three years of probation and six months of house arrest, along with a $60,000 fine. Goldman pleaded guilty in 2020 to a single count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
A day later, real estate consultant George Chiang was also sentenced to three years of probation, in addition to 12 months of house arrest and 150 hours of community service. Chiang, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the federal racketeering law, must also pay a $250,000 fine.
As part of his sentence, Esparza must serve 12 months of house arrest and 300 hours of community service. He must pay restitution of $130,459 to the city of Los Angeles.
Ezparza first joined Huizar's staff as an intern at age 19. He returned to Huizar's office after college and eventually rose to the position of special assistant, serving as his driver, his confidant and his emissary to lobbyists, consultants and others.
In legal filings and during Friday's hearing, Esparza said he viewed Huizar as a father figure who had been absent from his life. Esparza said Huizar's own relatives referred to him as Huizar's “first-born son.” His voice breaking, he said he had put his royal family through “hell.”
FBI agents raided his grandparents' home in Boyle Heights, where he lived, in 2018. He said his grandfather, who had raised him to be a moral person, watched as he was handcuffed.
“I failed them as an older brother, as a son and as a grandson,” he said.
Walter said that after watching Esparza testify in four trials, he was convinced that Esparza fully embraced the lavish lifestyle that resulted from his corruption. At the same time, he called Esparza's written request for leniency “one of the most sincere and persuasive” he has ever read.
After the hearing, Esparza said he was “very grateful for this moment,” even listening to Walter describe his crimes in detail.
“It was difficult to hear the judge tell the truth with me,” he said. “But the first part of your redemption journey is to be honest.”
