A federal judge has rebuffed federal prosecutors’ attempts to dismiss a fraud count against former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Todd Ament, who cooperated with authorities in taking down former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu in the failed Angel Stadium sales deal.
Initially, Ament was attempting to withdraw his guilty plea in July 2022 to defrauding a cannabis company. He also pleaded guilty to loan fraud and tax cheating.
A hearing on that motion was scheduled, but then prosecutors filed a motion last month saying they were moving to dismiss the count with the blessing of defense attorneys “in the interests of justice.”
Prosecutors argued that the cannabis company fraud count “may be dismissed without defendant first withdrawing his guilty plea.”
U.S. District Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha on Monday issued an order denying the motion to dismiss the wire fraud count “based on the government’s failure to submit a memorandum in support of its motion or to offer any substantive explanation or justification to support its request to dismiss count one of the indictment.”
Since Ament “did not file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea as to count one timely, the court vacates the Oct. 22, 2025, hearing on the proposed motion.”
The judge said the Nov. 14 sentencing hearing will go as scheduled.
Still to be determined is a motion to include the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce as a victim in the case. The dismissal of the wire fraud count could have scuttled that case. Attorney Dean Steward, who represents the chamber, has argued in court papers that it deserves $264,330 in restitution.
Co-defendant Melahat Rafiei was sentenced to six months in federal prison and fined $10,000 for her role in the public corruption case. Rafiei, the former Orange County Democratic Party executive director, pleaded guilty to attempting to rip off a client for her political consultancy firm and a bribery scheme involving two Irvine City Council members.
Rafiei wore a wire to help authorities build a case against Ament, who later wore a wire himself when meeting with Sidhu that led to his conviction and a two-month prison sentence in the failed Angel Stadium sales deal.
Ament’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.