• [Reparations...] Longtime Los Angeles politician found guilty of corrup

    From Leroy N. Soetoro@21:1/5 to All on Thu Apr 6 18:28:25 2023
    XPost: ca.politics, sac.politics, alt.politics.democrats
    XPost: talk.politics.guns

    Now go after Maxine Waters.

    <https://www.foxnews.com/politics/longtime-los-angeles-politician-found- guilty-corruption-get-son-scholarship-teaching-job>

    A longtime Los Angeles politician was convicted Thursday on federal
    corruption charges in a scheme in which prosecutors said he promised to
    help steer a multimillion-dollar government contract to the University of Southern California if his son got a scholarship and a teaching job.

    Former Democratic City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas — a one-time
    legislator, county supervisor and a fixture in local politics for decades
    — was found guilty in U.S. District Court of seven felonies, including conspiracy, bribery and fraud.

    The jury's verdict marked a stunning fall for a once-commanding figure in
    Los Angeles County politics known for his involvement in civil rights and racial issues.

    EX-YALE SOCCER COACH INVOLVED IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL IS SENTENCED
    TO 5 MONTHS DESPITE ‘RELIABLE’ COOPERATION

    Marilyn Flynn, who was dean of USC’s School of Social Work from 1997 to
    2018, pleaded guilty last year to one count of bribery in the case.
    Prosecutors said that as part of the plot, she concocted a scheme to
    funnel $100,000 that Ridley-Thomas provided from campaign funds through
    the university to a nonprofit run by his son.

    "When elected leaders engage in acts of corruption, our community suffers immense damage. Ridley-Thomas engaged in a corrupt conspiracy with a
    university dean to steer taxpayer-funded contracts to the school in
    exchange for benefits for his son," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.

    Ridley-Thomas, then a county supervisor, offered to support county
    contracts for USC’s School of Social Work that could potentially bring the institution millions of dollars in new revenue in return for helping his
    son, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, according to prosecutors. At the time, the
    school had a multimillion-dollar budget deficit.

    Sebastian Ridley-Thomas was a state assemblyman who resigned the last day
    of 2017 while facing allegations that he made an unwanted sexual advance
    toward a Capitol staffer. The $100,000 went to his organization, known as
    the Policy, Research & Practice Initiative, prosecutors said.

    The son later received a $26,000 graduate scholarship for 2018 and was
    offered a paid teaching position with a $50,000 salary, even though being
    a student and a teacher would violate school policy, authorities said.

    The Los Angeles City Council suspended Mark Ridley-Thomas in October 2021, shortly after he was charged in the case. With his conviction on felony charges, Council President Paul Krekorian said in a statement the seat was vacant under city law.

    Krekorian said he was appointing Councilwoman Heather Hutt as a caretaker
    of the seat, who earlier had been named to temporarily fill the post after Ridely-Thomas was suspended. Krekorian said he would urge the council at
    its next meting to appoint Hutt to hold the office for the remainder of Ridley-Thomas' term.

    JOHN STAMOS SPEAKS OUT ABOUT LORI LOUGHLIN AFTER VARSITY BLUES SCANDAL:
    ‘SHE WENT TO F---ING JAIL, MAN’

    Ridley-Thomas, who denied wrongdoing, left the courthouse after the
    verdict without speaking to reporters. A representative for his defense
    team told the Los Angeles Times that he would appeal.

    He will be sentenced in August.

    Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a longtime friend and political ally, called
    the verdict a "sad day for Los Angeles."

    USC wasn’t accused of wrongdoing in the criminal case but it further
    tarnished the school’s elite image, already battered by a series of
    scandals.

    USC was one of the universities embroiled in an admissions cheating
    scandal in which wealthy parents sought to get their undeserving offspring
    into college by falsely portraying them as star athletes. Dozens of
    parents and athletic coaches nationwide were charged and more than 50
    people were convicted in the "Operation Varsity Blues" case. They include
    TV actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, and Loughlin’s fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli.

    In 2021, USC agreed to an $852 million settlement with more than 700 women
    who accused the college’s longtime campus gynecologist of sexual abuse. It
    was believed to be a record amount for such a lawsuit. When combined with
    an earlier settlement of a separate class-action suit, USC has agreed to
    pay out more than $1 billion for claims against the doctor, who worked at
    the school for nearly three decades.


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