A federal decide on Friday sentenced a downtown Los Angeles actual property developer to 6 years in jail for offering money bribes to former Metropolis Councilmember Jose Huizar, then making an attempt to cover the transaction from investigators.
Dae Yong Lee, who additionally goes by David Lee, was discovered responsible final 12 months of giving $500,000 in bribes in alternate for the approval of a 20-story residential tower on Olympic Boulevard and Hill Avenue. He was additionally convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Lee, showing earlier than the decide, apologized for his actions, saying he had created “a lot ache and heartbreak” for his spouse, his household and the folks round him.
“Resulting from my greed and ambition, I did one thing I’ll remorse for the remainder of my life,” the Bel-Air resident advised the court docket.
U.S. Dist. Courtroom Decide John F. Walter stated he took under consideration letters despatched to the court docket from Lee’s household and supporters, notably his spouse’s characterization of him as “a very good man who made an enormous mistake.” However Walter stated Lee’s crimes — bribing an elected official after which ordering a subordinate to falsify his firm’s inside file of that transaction — merited a sentence that will function “a warning to others.”
“The court docket should ship a message to discourage others who’re in related conditions from partaking in related crimes,” he stated.
Lee, the primary determine within the Huizar scandal to go on trial, was additionally ordered to pay a $750,000 monetary penalty. His growth firm, 940 Hill, was individually sentenced to 5 years of probation and fined $1.5 million.
The case towards Lee and 940 Hill was among the many extra sensational of the schemes spelled out within the federal indictment of Huizar, who pleaded responsible to racketeering and tax evasion prices earlier this 12 months. Throughout Lee’s trial, a former Huizar aide testified that he twice picked up paper luggage of money from a advisor working for Lee, saying the cash was supposed for Huizar and distributed in stacks of $100 payments.
George Esparza, who labored as Huizar’s particular assistant, described through the trial how, at one level, he delivered $100,000 in a Don Julio tequila field to the council member’s Boyle Heights residence in 2017.
A onetime aide to former Metropolis Councilmember Jose Huizar, who testified final 12 months within the trial of businessman Dae Yong Lee, admitted delivering a Don Julio tequila field stuffed with money to his boss’ residence.
(U.S. District Courtroom)
Esparza, who later pleaded responsible to a single racketeering cost, took copious notes on his prison actions, at one level writing the phrases “Giving money to CM Huizar 2/10/2017” on a serviette. He then photographed the serviette.
Huizar, who served on the council from 2005 to 2020, is scheduled to be sentenced in December. Esparza, who can also be awaiting sentencing, should be referred to as as a witness in an upcoming trial stemming from the Huizar case.
Prosecutors had requested for Lee to be sentenced to seven years in jail, saying it might dissuade others from partaking in political corruption. Of their submitting, they repeatedly highlighted Lee’s wealth, saying he “loved a lavish way of life” and had in depth actual property holdings.
In 2015, Lee proposed the development of a $170-million high-rise just a few blocks east of the L.A. Reside leisure complicated. His undertaking quickly drew opposition from a gaggle of building commerce unions, which threatened to gradual or halt the approval course of for his undertaking, including hundreds of thousands in further growth prices.
Lee agreed to supply Huizar, who represented a lot of downtown and wielded monumental energy over actual property choices, a money bribe to make sure that the council member would oppose the union problem, prosecutors stated.
“He wasn’t underneath monetary stress, like some persons are,” stated Assistant U.S. Atty. Cassie Palmer. “He had some huge cash and wished extra.”
Attorneys for Lee requested leniency, asking for a 20-month sentence. Lee’s devotion to his household, his buddies and his religion all warranted a decrease sentence, his attorneys stated.
“The restricted window of conduct that was introduced at trial doesn’t precisely replicate the hardworking, sincere individual that he has been in all different elements of his life,” wrote Lee’s legal professional, Ariel A. Neuman.
Throughout Friday’s listening to, Neuman objected to the prosecution’s repeated deal with his shopper’s wealth. He additionally argued that Lee was receiving disparate therapy when in comparison with Huizar, who has admitted duty for a a lot better quantity of prison exercise.
Huizar reached a plea settlement earlier this 12 months during which prosecutors agreed to not search greater than 13 years in jail. Walter, the federal decide, advised the protection lawyer he is not going to be certain to that settlement when he points his sentence.
Huizar is certainly one of a number of high-profile figures at Metropolis Corridor to face prison prices in recent times. Former Metropolis Councilmember Mitchell Englander, who stepped down in 2018, pleaded responsible three years in the past to offering false data to investigators, which resulted in a 14-month jail sentence.
Former Metropolis Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted earlier this 12 months on conspiracy, bribery and fraud prices and is awaiting sentencing. In the meantime, Councilmember Curren Worth is combating perjury, embezzlement and conflict-of-interest prices, which had been filed by the district legal professional’s workplace earlier this 12 months.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Mack Jenkins stated he hoped that Lee’s sentence would function a deterrent to political corruption. He identified the decide’s sentence was almost 4 instances longer than the one sought by Lee.
“We predict future criminals will pay attention to that,” he stated.
