A real estate development consultant is set to be sentenced Tuesday for his role in the pay-to-play scheme at City Hall tied to now-imprisoned ex-City Councilman José Huizar’s approval of large building projects in downtown Los Angeles.
George Chiang, of Granada Hills, pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one federal count of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars. Because of his cooperation, Chiang is expected to receive a far lighter penalty when sentenced by U.S. District Judge John Walter.
Chiang was the second defendant to plead guilty in the wide-ranging federal criminal probe of City Hall corruption. He will also be the second defendant in the Huizar case to be sentenced this week.
On Monday, longtime lobbyist and former City Hall official Morrie Goldman was sentenced to six months’ home detention as part of a probationary sentence. Goldman pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and honest services mail fraud, and cooperated in the investigation.
The central figure in the case, Huizar, is 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.
Chiang admitted in his plea agreement to participating in the scheme run by Huizar in which a Chinese real estate company bribed city officials in exchange for approval to build a 77-story skyscraper in the then-councilman’s district.
Huizar, 56, represented the downtown area and was chairman of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, the powerful panel that reviews the city’s largest development projects. Evidence showed he monetized his position and leveraged his political clout for over $1.5 million in cash bribes, gambling chips, luxury trips, political contributions, prostitutes, extravagant meals, services, concerts and other gifts.
Federal prosecutors said the probe exposed “significant and blatant corruption” at City Hall.
Huizar’s co-defendant, former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan, was sentenced last month to 12 years in federal prison for acting as an intermediary in Huizar’s bribery scheme.
Chan, 68, was convicted in March by a jury in Los Angeles federal court of a dozen felony counts: one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, seven counts of honest services wire fraud, three counts of bribery and one count of making false statements to a federal government agency.
Members and associates of the scheme included lobbyists, consultants and other city officials and staffers, who sought to personally enrich themselves and their families and associates in exchange for official acts.
Along with Chiang and Goldman, participants 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 by Walter on Friday in downtown Los Angeles, and Kim is set to be sentenced on Nov. 15.
Ex-City Councilmember Mitch Englander, 54, separately pleaded guilty to scheming to obstruct an investigation into his acceptance of $15,000 in cash and other gifts from the same businessman found to have bribed Huizar. He was sentenced in January 2021 to 14 months in prison.
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