Former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar began serving his 13-year prison sentence Monday for his role in a ragtag series of corruption schemes that shattered public trust in City Hall.
Huizar was convicted in January and ordered to turn himself in in April, but was given permission to delay the start of his prison term due to medical issues, according to court records.
On Monday, he turned himself in to the Bureau of Prisons and is being held at Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc II, a low-security prison for male inmates in Santa Barbara County, according to a report in the Boyle Heights Beat. His lawyer declined to comment.
Last year, Huizar pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax evasion charges. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay nearly $444,000 in restitution to the city of Los Angeles and nearly $39,000 to the IRS.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who imposed the sentence, said the 13 years were necessary to “engender respect” for the nation’s anti-corruption laws as well as to recognize the extreme harm the former member of the council had caused to its voters, to the city and to democracy itself.
Huizar orchestrated a pay-to-play scheme in which lucrative opportunities in his downtown Los Angeles neighborhood were given to real estate developers in exchange for lavish gifts and bribes.
Prosecutors alleged that during his tenure he obtained $1.5 million in bribes, gambling chips, luxury hotel stays, political contributions, prostitute services, expensive meals and other financial benefits from the promoters.
“If anyone dared to rebuff his call to pay bribes, he punished them and their urban projects, threatening developers with indefinitely delayed projects and financial peril,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan was a co-defendant in the federal bribery case and a key player in Huizar’s bribery scheme. On Friday, a federal judge sentenced him to 12 years in prison and to pay $752,457 in restitution to the city of Los Angeles.
Prosecutors alleged he accepted more than $750,000 in bribes for himself and facilitated more than $1 million in bribes to Huizar from promoters real estate.
In March, a jury found Chan guilty of a dozen counts, including racketeering conspiracy, bribery, honest services fraud and making false statements to investigators.
Although Chan’s lawyers argued that he should receive a lighter sentence than Huizar, prosecutors alleged that he bore enormous responsibility for their corruption scheme and should be punished accordingly.
For example, prosecutors alleged he obtained a $600,000 bribe from a real estate developer — the largest in their pay-to-play scheme — which Huizar used to secretly settle a harassment lawsuit sexual assault brought by a former employee.
Chan is expected to begin his prison sentence on January 6.
City News Service contributed to this report.
