A longtime lobbyist and former City Hall official was sentenced Monday, Nov. 4, to six months of house arrest for conspiracy to former councilor, now imprisoned, José Huizar in a bribery scheme.

Morrie Goldman was also ordered to pay a $60,000 fine and serve three years of federal probation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Goldman pleaded guilty in September 2020 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services mail fraud in the government’s investigation into City Hall corruption.

Although the charge carries a possible sentence of up to five years behind bars, Goldman received the non-custodial sentence as a result of his cooperation in the investigation, court documents show.

Goldman was a lobbyist for a company that had a development project pending in the city’s Arts District. He was one of several people who set up two political action committees, one of which purportedly supported a variety of causes but was actually created primarily to benefit Huizar’s wife’s City Council campaign, who planned to run for her husband’s council seat, according to federal prosecutors.

If elected, the unnamed relative would have helped Huizar and his associates “maintain a political stronghold in the city,” court documents state.

Goldman’s lawyer, Steve Meister, said at the time of the guilty plea that his client “allowed himself to become part of the orbit of a very corrupt man.”

“By cooperating with the government’s investigation, Morrie is reclaiming the moral ground he ceded to José Huizar, and my client will do everything he can legally, as long as it takes, to make things right,” Meister said. “It’s a cautionary tale of how, even for a person of integrity and an unblemished previous record like Morrie Goldman, all of this can happen.”

In his plea agreement, Goldman acknowledged that in September 2018 he agreed with Huizar and a company executive that the developer would contribute $50,000 to a PAC established to support Huizar’s wife’s campaign. Instead, Huizar would vote against a union appeal of the company’s project to the Planning and Land Management Committee, which he chaired at the time.

The court documents also outline how Goldman secured the company’s commitments to contribute to the PAC at Huizar’s request before September 2018.

Goldman was the sixth defendant to be indicted as a result of Operation Casino Loyale, the FBI’s investigation into corruption at Los Angeles City Hall.

Before working as a lobbyist, Goldman served as chief of staff to former Los Angeles councilmen Hal Bernson and Mike Hernandez.

On Tuesday, real estate development consultant George Chiang is to be sentenced for his role in the City Hall pay-to-play scheme related to Huizar’s approval of large building projects in downtown Los Angeles. Chiang pleaded guilty in June 2020 to a federal charge of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute.

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 represented the city’s downtown area and was chairman of the Planning and Land Management Committee, the powerful group that reviews the city’s biggest development projects. Evidence showed that he monetized his position and leveraged his political influence for more than $1.5 million in cash bribes, gambling chips, luxury trips, political contributions, prostitutes, extravagant meals, services, concerts and other gifts.

Huizar’s co-defendant, former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan, was sentenced last month to 12 years in federal prison for acting as a go-between in Huizar’s bribery scheme.

Chan was convicted in March by a jury in federal court in Los Angeles of a dozen felony charges: one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, seven counts of honest services fraud, three counts of bribery and a charge of making false statements to a person. federal government agency.

Members and associates of the scheme included lobbyists, consultants and other city officials and employees who sought to personally enrich themselves and their families and associates in exchange for official documents. Along with Chiang and Goldman, attendees included Huizar’s former special assistant George Esparza and political fundraiser Justin Jangwoo Kim, among others. Each pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation.

Esparza is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in downtown Los Angeles, and Kim is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 15.

Originally published: Nov 4, 2024 at 7:42 am PST