Former Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for his role in a wide-ranging series of criminal schemes involving cash payments, casino chips at Las Vegas hotels and other bribes from developers looking to build dazzling skyscrapers in the city center.
United States District Court Judge John F. Walter handed down the sentence on the day after receiving a letter from Huizar apologizing for his crimes. In that letter, Huizar said he had paid an enormous price: losing his reputation and his ability to provide for his family, damaging his children's future and his mental health.
Walter said the 13-year sentence was necessary to “build respect” for the country's anti-corruption laws and recognize the extreme harm caused by Huizar: to his family, to his constituents, to the city and to democracy itself. Huizar, he said, had been the chief architect of a criminal enterprise that relied on bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice and other crimes to achieve his goals: to enrich himself and his associates and expand his political power.
“He was the single powerful driving force” that made each of the pay-for-play schemes so successful, the judge said.
Huizar, 55, must surrender to federal authorities on April 30. Walter also ordered him to pay nearly $444,000 in restitution to the city of Los Angeles and nearly $39,000 to the IRS.
Huizar spoke only briefly in the courtroom, apologizing to his family and the city for the “harm” he had caused and relying on his lawyers to present a lengthy case for leniency. When Walter announced the sentence, he sat slightly slumped in his chair, looking at the judge. His face was expressionless.
Huizar's lawyers had He asked for no more than nine years in prison, arguing that his client amassed a long list of accomplishments during his tenure in public office. Federal prosecutors had sought 13 years in prison, arguing that a strong sentence would serve as a deterrent against future public corruption.
Prosecutors said Huizar monetized his government position for years, reaping more than $1.5 million in cash bribes, gambling chips, luxury hotel stays, political contributions, prostitution services, expensive meals and other benefits. financing of developers with projects at their center. district.
U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada, appearing after the hearing, said Huizar's sentence was the most substantial yet in the federal government's ongoing battle against corruption in Los Angeles. Residents in Huizar's district, which encompasses all or part of downtown, Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock and El Sereno, “deserved much better,” he said.
“The privilege of public office was not enough for José Huizar,” Estrada said, outside the court. “Instead, he chose corruption and greed. He used his power to use City Hall as his personal ATM.”
Friday's sentencing capped a sweeping corruption investigation that began in 2015, the year FBI agents received a tip about Huizar's gambling activities inside a luxury casino in Las Vegas. Years later, he and several City Hall figures (most of them involved in approving residential towers or high-rise hotels) were arrested and eventually convicted of various crimes.
José Huizar speaking at a 2018 press conference.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Councilman Mitchell Englander pleaded guilty in 2020 to giving false information to investigators after FBI agents asked him about his own trip to Las Vegas in 2017, during which he received cash in an envelope in a casino bathroom. . George Esparza, a former Huizar aide who transported liquor cases filled with cash, is awaiting sentencing on a racketeering charge.
A real estate developer, a former lobbyist, a land use consultant, a China-based real estate company and even Huizar's older brother, Salvador Huizar, have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury.
Still to come is the case of former vice mayor Raymond Chan, who faces charges of bribery, extortion and wire fraud. That case ended in a mistrial last year, after Chan's attorney suffered a medical emergency that left him unable to continue representing Chan in court.
A figure in the corruption investigation may never face a jury. Billionaire Chinese developer Wei Huang, who helped Huizar raise $600,000 to pay a former assistant who accused him of sexual harassment, is on the run and considered a fugitive, according to the Justice Department.
For years, Huizar headed the council's Land Use Planning and Management Committee, which served as a critical gatekeeper for large-scale development projects across the city. In that role, Huizar wielded enormous power.
Huizar repeatedly obtained bribes (in some cases by enriching himself personally, in other cases by collecting campaign donations) from downtown developers eager to gain city approval for their projects, according to his plea agreement.
One proposed project, which was later abandoned, was a 77-story hotel tower planned on Figueroa Street. Another was a 20-story residential building proposed for Olympic Boulevard. A third had been planned in front of the LA Live entertainment complex. A fourth was a 35-story tower, now under construction, in the Arts District.
On the eve of his sentencing, Huizar submitted a letter telling the judge that his weakness had changed his life forever. Huizar said that, while he was in office, he decided that he wanted to reward himself for the sacrifices he had made.
“Shiny things were hanging in front of me and I couldn't resist the temptation,” the former council member wrote. “The money, the fancy dinners, the luxury flights. “It was there to be taken and I wasn’t strong enough to say no.”
Huizar was born in a rural town in Mexico, just a few years before his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Boyle Heights. According to family members, his parents worked long hours at menial jobs while raising their children. Huizar overcame adversity and excelled in school, graduating from a series of top universities: UC Berkeley, then Princeton University, and finally UCLA School of Law.
In 2001, Huizar was elected to a seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District board of directors. Four years later, he won a seat on the council. He was re-elected to a third and final term in 2015, handily defeating former County Supervisor Gloria Molina, a veteran Eastside politician.
In his attempt to obtain clemency, Huizar's defense pointed out that he is a first-time offender and father of school-age children. They pointed to his work fostering what they called the “DTLA Renaissance”: the pre-COVID real estate boom that brought foreign investment and gleaming towers to the city center. They argued that Huizar's actions, while damaging to public trust, were not “intentionally evil.”
“If you look at reality, you took office out of a long-standing desire to help,” Charles Snyder, deputy federal public defender, said as he addressed the judge.
Huizar's friends and family also sought to highlight his good works.
In a letter to the judge, former school board President Monica Garcia called Huizar a “pioneering” board member who played a critical role in the push to build dozens of new campuses. In another, Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, said Huizar has shown humility and remorse.
In yet another letter, Huizar's elderly mother, Isidra Huizar, implored the judge to have mercy, saying her son routinely helps her with her dentist, her cardiologist, her prescriptions and other medical needs.
“I don't even want to think about life without him,” she wrote. “I beg you with all my heart, judge, not to take it from me.”
At Friday's hearing, Walter took note of the harm Huizar's actions had caused his family, particularly his mother and four children. He acknowledged that Huizar's political career had “an incredibly sad end.” “It's hard to understand why he decided to throw it all away,” the judge said at one point.
However, Walter argued for a substantial prison sentence, saying Huizar abused his position “time and time again.” The judge said public corruption has an especially corrosive effect on society, generating “cynicism and distrust” in elected officials, causing the public to view government as an insider's game.
When that happens, the judge said, citizens begin to disengage. That, in turn, threatens to destroy “the delicate fabric of democracy,” Walter said.
At this time, Huizar is not the only elected City Hall official currently involved in public corruption cases. Former councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted last year on charges of bribery, conspiracy and fraud. He filed an appeal in that case, which centers on decisions he made while serving on the county Board of Supervisors.
Councilman Curren Price faces charges of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest in a case brought by the District. Lawyer. George Gascón's office. Price declared his innocence and pleaded not guilty earlier this month.
In recent weeks, Huizar's defense attorneys attempted to illustrate the environment their client faced at City Hall, saying that his constituents and his “constituencies” were constantly seeking his favor: offering gifts, giving campaign donations and organizing events on his behalf. Huizar, they said, developed personal relationships with numerous people, the kind that led to the “exchange of benefits and favors.”
“It was easy for the lines to blur, and they did,” Huizar's lawyers wrote. “Indeed, this was true not only of Mr. Huizar, but it was and almost certainly remains true of virtually every elected official in Los Angeles and beyond.”
That claim sparked a strong reaction from Council President Paul Krekorian, who voted to suspend Huizar the day he was arrested in June 2020. Krekorian, in an interview, called the claim “complete garbage.”
“His conduct was an embarrassment to the city, a betrayal of voters and a betrayal of all of us, his former colleagues,” Krekorian said. “Therefore, to suggest that this is business as usual is complete nonsense.”
