Councilmember Curren Price charged with embezzlement, perjury
Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price was charged with 10 counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest on Tuesday, becoming the latest in a years-long parade of elected city officials to face public corruption allegations from state or federal prosecutors.
Price, a 10-year veteran of the City Council, was charged with five counts of grand theft by embezzlement, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to a spokesperson for the L.A. County district attorney’s office.
The office did not immediately provide details on the charges or a copy of a criminal complaint.
“We have not seen the charges filed against Councilmember Curren Price. It’s highly unusual for charges like this to be brought up against a sitting City Council member without any prior notice or discussion,” Price spokesperson Angelina Valencia said Tuesday afternoon. “Curren Price is a long-standing public servant who has given his life to the city of Los Angeles. He looks forward to defending himself once he’s had an opportunity to address these charges.”
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Price’s attorney, Dave Willingham, declined to comment, saying he had not seen the complaint. Price left the City Council chamber shortly after Tuesday’s meeting ended around 2 p.m.
The charges are the latest in a series of criminal allegations and scandals that have rocked City Hall. Last year, the leak of a conversation among City Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera containing racist remarks ended Martinez’s council career, drove Herrera from his post and turned De León into a political pariah.
Earlier this year, Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was found guilty of conspiracy, bribery and fraud for extracting benefits for his son from USC while voting on issues that benefited the school.
Councilmembers Mitch Englander and Jose Huizar also pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in recent years following an FBI probe.
Price was one of several City Hall figures mentioned in the FBI probe that ensnared Huizar and Englander after he was named in a federal search warrant filed in November 2018. Federal prosecutors never brought charges against him.
A date has not been set for Price’s arraignment, and he is not going to be arrested, according to the district attorney’s office spokesperson. No information about the charges against him was available on the L.A. County Superior Court’s website as of Tuesday afternoon.
Price was absent from the Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games meeting that he was supposed to chair on Tuesday afternoon.
Questioned by a reporter as they walked into the room, Council President Paul Krekorian and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield both said they were unaware that any charges had been filed against their colleague. Several council members stared at their phones with somber expressions as news broke publicly of the filing.
Price was the subject of ethics concerns in 2019 after it was revealed that he had cast votes on items that could affect clients of a consulting company owned by his wife, Del Richardson. The Times reported that Price voted on decisions involving at least 10 companies in the same years they were listed as providing at least $10,000 in income to Del Richardson & Associates.
Del Richardson & Associates offers a wide array of services, including relocation assistance, marketing, job recruiting and more, according to its website. Its clients include government agencies such as the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Jordan Downs, a housing project overseen by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, according to the website.
In 2019, a Price spokesperson said that neither the council member nor his wife had benefited financially from the votes initially identified by The Times. The spokesperson also said that Price “has never cast a vote thinking of his or his wife’s financial interest.”
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California law bars any public official from making or participating in any governmental decision “in which he knows or has reason to know he has a financial interest.”
The scandal-marred City Council had regained tenuous stability in recent months, but Price’s charges will likely upend that relative calm.
The immediate question will be whether Price, whose term is not set to expire until 2026, remains on the council as he fights the charges. He was first elected to the council in 2013 to represent neighborhoods in South Los Angeles and the area around downtown’s LA Live.
Price’s colleagues will likely face pressure to suspend him, given that the council voted twice in the last three years to suspend other members facing criminal charges.
If suspended, Price would be unable to attend council and committee meetings, execute contracts, use discretionary funds or engage in constituent services. His South L.A. constituents would also be left without a voting representative.
Price would permanently lose his seat if he is convicted of a felony under city rules.
Times staff writer Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.
Source: Los Angeles Times
