LOS ANGELES — A former City Hall fundraiser was sentenced Friday to a year of home detention for arranging a $500,000 bribe for now-imprisoned ex-Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar to “grease the wheels” for a proposed downtown condominium project.
Justin Kim was the first of four defendants to plead guilty in the “pay-to-play” federal public corruption probe centering on Huizar and his associates.
Kim was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service as part of his three-year probationary sentence. He pleaded guilty in June 2020 to a single count of federal program bribery and agreed to cooperate with investigators.
Kim’s role in the bribery scheme began in 2016 when a labor group filed an appeal claiming a developer’s proposed project violated the California Environmental Quality Act. The developer contacted Kim in hopes of gaining Huizar’s support.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Huizar and the developer negotiated a $500,000 payment, and in early 2017, the developer gave Kim $400,000 in cash inside a paper bag to deliver to the council member. Kim kept some cash for himself for acting as a go-between, then delivered the money to a staff member to pass along to Huizar, evidence showed.
Prosecutors said the developer later paid the other $100,000 when the appeal was resolved, but Kim kept the money for himself.
Huizar is now serving a 13-year prison sentence for accepting bribes from downtown developers and cheating on his taxes. He pleaded guilty in January 2023 to conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and tax evasion.
Huizar, 56, represented the downtown area and was chairman of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, the powerful panel that reviews the city’s largest development projects. Evidence showed he monetized his position and leveraged his political clout for over $1.5 million in cash bribes, gambling chips, luxury trips, political contributions, prostitutes, extravagant meals, services, concerts and other gifts.
Federal prosecutors said the probe exposed “significant and blatant corruption” at City Hall.
Huizar’s co-defendant, former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan, was sentenced last month to 12 years in federal prison for acting as an intermediary in Huizar’s scheme.
Chan, 68, was convicted in March by a jury in Los Angeles federal court of a dozen felony counts: one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, seven counts of honest services wire fraud, three counts of bribery and one count of making false statements to a federal government agency.
Members and associates of the scheme included lobbyists, consultants and other city officials and staffers, who sought to personally enrich themselves and their families and associates in exchange for official acts.
Last week, three defendants who pleaded guilty and cooperated in the probe were sentenced in Los Angeles federal court.
George Esparza, a former aide to Huizar, was sentenced Nov. 8 to federal probation for his role in the bribery scheme. Esparza pleaded guilty four years ago to a single count of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute, and agreed to cooperate in the wide-ranging federal probe.
According to his plea agreement, Esparza and Huizar took bribes from the billionaire head of a Chinese real estate company, who paid more than $1 million in exchange for Huizar’s support for a 77-story skyscraper the company wanted to build on downtown’s Figueroa Street.
Esparza told investigators that between 2014 and 2018, the developer provided him and the then-council member flights on private jets, gambling chips, expensive meals, prostitution/escort services and other perks during more than a dozen trips to casinos in Las Vegas, court records show.
U.S. District Judge John Walter said at Esparza’s sentencing hearing that his cooperation was “nothing short of extraordinary.”
The judge said, “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.”
Also last week, real estate development consultant George Chiang was sentenced to a year in home detention and 150 hours of community service as part of his three-year probationary sentence.
Chiang pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one federal count of conspiring to violate the RICO Act. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years behind bars, but because of his cooperation in the investigation, Chiang received a far lighter penalty, court papers show.
A close political ally of Huizar, Chiang interfaced with Chinese companies that were developing real estate projects in Los Angeles and sought the councilman’s help. Chiang helped orchestrate bribes for Huizar in order to win his support, federal prosecutors said.
On Nov. 4, longtime lobbyist Morrie Goldman also dodged prison and was sentenced to six months’ home detention as part of his probationary sentence. Goldman pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and honest services mail fraud, and cooperated in the investigation.