José Huizar, the former L.A. City Councilmember at the center of one of L.A.’s biggest City Hall corruption scandals in decades, surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Monday to begin his 13-year prison term, authorities said.
Huizar, 56, who pleaded guilty last year to charges of racketeering and tax evasion, is currently in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc II, according to a representative of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The former politician had originally been ordered to surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons by April 30 but was granted an extension until Aug. 30 due to medical reasons. Huizar was granted an additional extension and given a surrender date of Oct. 7 for “good cause.”
Huizar was sentenced in January to the maximum sentence recommended by federal prosecutors. In sentencing Huizar, Judge John F. Walter emphasized the systemic damage done to the public Huizar caused after accepting bribes and dissolving public trust in city government.
The former representative of neighborhoods like Boyle Heights, El Sereno, downtown and Lincoln Heights, admitted to accepting $1.5 million in bribes from developers in a wide-reaching “pay-to-play” scheme to accelerate the city’s approval process for development.
Prosecutors said secret dealings quickly became a criminal enterprise, where developers could pay to get their downtown real estate projects in motion, as long as he and his people were taken care of. Evidence of hundreds of thousands of dollars in casino chips, fancy hotel stays, private flights and escort services were all detailed in the FBI’s investigation into Huizar beginning in 2018.
In addition to the prison sentence, Huizar was ordered to pay nearly $444,000 dollars in restitution to the city of Los Angeles and almost $39,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Last week, Raymond Chan, ex-deputy mayor of Los Angeles, was found guilty for his involvement in the corruption case and was sentenced to serve 12 years of his own. Prosecutors said Chan facilitated payments to Huizar from real estate developers and was ultimately convicted of bribery, racketeering, fraud and lying to FBI investigators.
