LOS ANGELES (AP) – Former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan was sentenced Wednesday on charges of extortion, bribery, fraud and lying to investigators in the massive pay-to-play corruption scandal at Los Angeles City Hall. Ta.
A federal jury reached a guilty verdict less than 24 hours after lawyers finished their closing arguments, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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Sentencing was set for June 10, and Chan’s lawyer, John Hanush, told the judge he intended to appeal.
Former L.A. Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan was found guilty Wednesday of bribery, extortion, fraud and making false statements to investigators. (St. Petersburg)
“Mr. Chan used his leadership position at City Hall to favor corrupt individuals and corporations willing to commit corruption,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “Today’s verdict sends a strong message that we will not tolerate corruption and that money politics have no place in our communities.”
This was Mr. Chan’s second trial in a bribery case involving a downtown Los Angeles real estate development project. The first collapsed after lawyer Harland Brown was hospitalized and unable to return to work for several months. The judge declared a mistrial in April last year.
In the latest trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian R. Firstein told jurors that Chan and former City Councilman Jose Huizar had exploited the downtown real estate boom of the past decade to prop up themselves and their allies. The Times reported that he used it to enrich himself.
Mr. Furstein was a key intermediary between Mr. Zhang, 67, a Chinese developer looking to build skyscrapers and Mr. Huizar, who headed a powerful committee that spearheaded such projects. I explained that there is.
In his opening argument on March 12, Firstein said that Chan “not only took bribes for himself, but also bribed other public officials.”
Chan is the last defendant indicted in the City Hall corruption investigation to stand trial. Huisard pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax evasion charges and was sentenced in January to 13 years in prison. At least half a dozen other people have been convicted or pleaded guilty to federal crimes, including Huizar’s brother, Salvador Huizar.
“This case was and is about Jose Huizar,” Hanush said.
Hanush agreed that Huizar and others are corrupt. But while Mr. Huizar accepted a plane ticket to Las Vegas, casino chips and a luxury hotel stay, Mr. Chang received none of those, he said.
Hanush said that while working with developers, Chan was motivated not by greed but by a desire to make Los Angeles more business-friendly.
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Chan was chief executive of the Department of Building and Safety until 2016, when he became deputy mayor for economic development under Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was not involved in the scandal. Mr. Chan held that position for a little over a year before leaving city government to become a private consultant representing real estate developers.
According to the Times, prosecutors accused Chan of secretly setting up a consulting company while working for the city, and then receiving payments from developers to oversee government activities after he left his city job.
