At least one former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor employee committed a crime in connection with the recording of a racist conversation that rocked City Hall, according to Los Angeles County prosecutors.
But prosecutors declined to file felony charges and it will now be up to the city attorney. Hydee Feldstein Soto's office will charge the employees with misdemeanors, according to a memo made public Friday night.
In the memo, explaining their decision, prosecutors said Santos León and Karla Vásquez lived at a residence linked to an Internet service provider address that was in turn linked to an email account associated with social media posts. that highlighted the audio, according to the memo. .
León and Vásquez are married and work in the labor federation.
The undercover recording captured racist and derogatory comments during a 2021 conversation at the labor federation offices between City Council President Nury Martínez, council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and labor federation head Ron Hererra.
Martínez, Cedillo and Hererra have since left those roles.
According to the memo, dated April 26, Los Angeles police filed a case with prosecutors in January, requesting that they charge Vasquez and León with illegally recording a conversation and wiretapping. Recording conversations without a person's consent is illegal under California law, with rare exceptions.
Last July, search warrants were served at Vásquez y León's home in Eagle Rock.
According to the memo, the LAPD investigation found that between September 19 and October 6, 2022, the recording was posted on Reddit and then amplified on Twitter by accounts that had recently been created. Both accounts were connected to a Gmail handle “[email protected],” which police later linked to the IP address of Vásquez and León's home.
While prosecutors determined that “one or both of these individuals committed a crime,” police were unable to determine how the audio was made, identify a device used to make it, or determine who uploaded it to Reddit.
“None of the suspects were willing to make a statement and each is represented by a different attorney,” the memo said.
The memo states that the LAPD recommended charges for the October 18, 2021 conversation involving Herrera and council members and a September 30, 2022 phone call with Herrera and another individual involving wiretapped communications.
Last year, The Times reported that a forensic investigator hired by the Federation of Labor discovered sound editing software on León's computer and turned the findings over to police.
Neither Vásquez nor León spoke to investigators, according to the memo.
“Neither suspect has a criminal record and our office has not filed similar charges as felonies in the absence of such a record or other charges related to fraud or corruption,” prosecutors wrote of their decision to refer the case to the U.S. attorney’s office. the city.
The city attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Frankly, a referral to the City Attorney's office is not surprising,” Vasquez's attorneys, Michael Goldstein and Hagop Kuyumjian, said in a statement. “Our position has always been, and remains, that Ms. Vasquez has not committed any crimes associated with the leaked recordings.”
Leon's attorney, Bob Schwartz, said his client was “very relieved and satisfied.”
“This was never criminal conduct,” Schwartz said. “He denies doing anything wrong.”
León was placed on leave by the federation last year, and it was not immediately clear if he was still employed by it.
The leak of the 2021 conversation effectively ended Martínez's political career and led to Herrera's resignation. Cedillo lost his reelection bid to incumbent Councilwoman Eunisses Hernández before the recording was released, and De León is now locked in a tough runoff election in November as he seeks reelection.
