Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas and a former dean of the USC School of Social Work are expected to make their first appearance Monday morning before the federal judge who is overseeing their case on charges of hatching an alleged bribery scheme that prosecutors say resulted in the university receiving lucrative county contracts.
The status conference for Ridley-Thomas and Marilyn Flynn in Los Angeles federal court is expected to deal with scheduling and other issues.
The defendants are charged in a 20-count indictment alleging a secret deal whereby Ridley-Thomas — during a time when he was a member of the county Board of Supervisors — agreed to steer county money to the university in return for admitting his son Sebastian Ridley-Thomas into graduate school with a full-tuition scholarship and a paid professorship.
Flynn allegedly arranged to funnel a $100,000 donation from Ridley-Thomas’ campaign funds through the university to a nonprofit to be operated by his son, a former member of the California State Assembly.
In exchange, the indictment alleges, Ridley-Thomas supported county contracts involving the School of Social Work, including lucrative deals to provide services to the county Department of Children and Family Services and Probation Department, as well as an amendment to a contract with the Department of Mental Health that would bring the school millions of dollars in new revenue.
The donation prompted an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles that remains open, prosecutors said.
Both defendants have strongly denied any wrongdoing and promise that evidence will clear their names.
A tentative trial date of Dec. 14 has been set, but a new date is expected to be discussed at Monday’s hearing before U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer.
Both Ridley-Thomas, 66, and Flynn, 83, are charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of bribery. The indictment also charges both defendants with two counts of “honest services” mail fraud and 15 counts of “honest services” wire fraud.
The conspiracy count alleged in the indictment carries a penalty of up to five years in federal prison. Each bribery count carries a maximum possible sentence of 10 years. Each of the mail fraud and wire fraud charges carry a maximum of 20 years.
According to the indictment, the activities occurred in 2017-18, beginning when Ridley-Thomas’ son was the subject of an internal sexual harassment investigation in the Assembly, was likely to resign from elected office and was significantly in debt.
Sebastian resigned from the Assembly in 2017, although he insisted at the time that his departure was due to health reasons, not a sexual harassment probe.
“The corrupt activities alleged in the indictment were facilitated by a major university’s high-ranking administrator whose desire for funding apparently trumped notions of integrity and fair play,” Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said.
Prosecutors said the social work school was facing a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, which threatened the school’s viability as well as Flynn’s position and reputation as the school’s longtime dean.
As part of the bribery scheme, Ridley-Thomas and Flynn took steps “to disguise, conceal, and cover up the bribes, kickbacks, and other benefits,” prosecutors allege.
Flynn was dean for 21 years. The indictment says USC removed her from the position around June 2018.
Ridley-Thomas has been suspended from his City Council post and his salary and benefits were frozen. Before his suspension, the councilman said he would not resign and would continue to focus on addressing Los Angeles’ homelessness and housing crisis. He later said he would step back from attending meetings, but remain in office.