Longtime lobbyist faces sentencing in Huizar bribery scheme

A longtime lobbyist and former City Hall official is expected to be sentenced Monday for conspiring with now-imprisoned ex-Councilmember José Huizar in a bribery scheme.

Morrie Goldman pleaded guilty in September 2020 to a felony count of conspiring to commit bribery and honest services mail fraud in the government’s investigation of corruption at City Hall. Goldman, who cooperated in the federal criminal probe, faces up to five years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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

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

Goldman’s attorney, 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 lawfully can, for 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 a previously unblemished record, like Morrie Goldman, all of this can happen.”

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

Court documents also outline how Goldman secured commitments from the company to contribute to PACs, at Huizar’s request, prior to September 2018.

Goldman was the sixth defendant to be charged as a result of operation “Casino Loyale,” the FBI investigation into corruption at Los Angeles City Hall.

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

On Tuesday, real estate development consultant George Chiang is set to be sentenced for his role in the pay-to-play scheme at City Hall tied to Huizar’s approval of large building projects in downtown Los Angeles. Chiang pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one federal count of conspiring 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 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.

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 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 on Friday in downtown Los Angeles, and Kim is set to be sentenced on Nov. 15.