Former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday in a corruption case involving at least $1.5 million in cash and benefits in exchange for help in approving downtown LA real estate projects.
Huizar, 55, of Boyle Heights, pleaded guilty a year ago to federal counts of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and tax evasion.
He faced a maximum sentence of up to 13 years in prison. Huizar's defense attorney sought a 9-year sentence.
He also was ordered to pay $443,905 in restitution to the City of Los Angeles and $38,792 in restitution to the IRS.
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U.S. District Judge John Walter announced the decision late Friday morning in Los Angeles federal court. The judge said Huizar was given a high degree of trust by the public, but that trust was broken by what he called a corruption scheme for which served as an architect.
In a brief statement before he was sentenced, Huizar apologized to his family and the city. He was ordered to surrender to authorities to begin serving his sentence on April 30.
In an interview with NBCLA Friday afternoon following the hearing, Huizar reflected on his time on the council and asked to be forgiven.
"I'd like to think I made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people in my district and the city as a whole," Huizar said. "This process painted a picture of someone who I am not. I know who I am. I just hope to move on from this and I just hope to move on from this now and heal. There’s a lot of healing to do. I love this city, I love my constituents. I hope I didn’t let them down.
"It’s hard. It’s something that no one would want to go through and I never imagined myself going through something like this. Nobody does. When you're involved in high-stakes games and politics, you don't imagine to be in this situation but unfortunately I am. Like I said, I know who I am and this process made me out to be someone who I'm not."
The former District 14 representative used his position of power to shake down real estate developers for at least $1.5 million in cash and benefits in exchange for helping projects through the city's approval process, prosecutors said. Huizar represented the district, including downtown Los Angeles and surrounding communities, from 2005 until his resignation in 2020.
"These are good people. These are hard-working people. These are people who deserved better," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said outside court of the council district residents once represented by Huizar. "Instead of acting with honesty, he chose to act with greed. And, instead of public service, he chose corruption on a massive scale."
Outside court, prosecutors called it one of the "most prolific RICO cases in the history of Los Angeles," adding that RICO cases are usually reserved for criminal organizations.
His attorneys countered that he was an "evangelist" for large development projects in an effort to make LA a world class city. In his plea agreement, Huizar admitted to leading the so-called CD-14 Enterprise, which operated as a pay-to-play scheme. Huizar, assisted by others, unlawfully used his office to give favorable treatment to real estate developers who financed and facilitated cash bribes, campaign donations and other illicit benefits, prosecutors argued.
"For years, defendant operated his pay-to-play scheme in the city of Los Angeles to monetize his public position and leverage his political clout for over $1.5 million dollars in cash bribes, gambling chips, luxury trips, political contributions, prostitutes, extravagant meals, services, concerts, and other gifts," according to a memo filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. "If anyone dared rebuff his call to pay bribes, he punished them and their city projects, threatening developers with indefinitely delayed projects and financial peril."
Huizar also admitted to accepting a $600,000 bribe payment in the form of a loan from China-based billionaire real estate developer Wei Huang for use to secretly settle a pending sexual harassment lawsuit against Huizar by a former staffer.
Huang's downtown Los Angeles-based company was found guilty in 2022 of paying more than $1 million in bribes -- including luxury trip expenses, casino gambling chips and the sham loan -- to the then-councilman to obtain city approval to build a 77-story mixed-use skyscraper downtown. Huang, who owns a house in San Marino, was also charged in the case but is considered a fugitive believed to be in China, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Members and associates of the CD-14 Enterprise also 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. They included George Esparza, Huizar's former special assistant, real estate development consultant George Chiang, political fundraiser Justin Jangwoo Kim, and lobbyist Morrie Goldman, among others. Each pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government's investigation.
Huizar "covered his tracks with layers of concealment, including by shamelessly exploiting his elderly mother, brother and wife to launder his illicit proceeds. Finally, when defendant felt the walls of the instant federal investigation closing in on him, he made the calculated decision to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses and lying to government prosecutors and agents," according to federal prosecutors.
