Ex-LA Councilman José Huizar granted delay in start of 13-year prison sentence

By FRED SHUSTER

Disgraced former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar was granted a delay in the start of his 13-year prison term — previously scheduled for today — due to confidential medical matters, according to new court filings.

Huizar had been ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons no later than noon Friday. However, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter granted a five-week continuance on Thursday for “good cause.”

Huizar must now surrender to the BOP no later than Oct. 7, the result of convictions for accepting bribes from downtown developers and cheating on his taxes.

Papers filed in Los Angeles federal court show that defense attorneys sought a self-surrender date of Dec. 2 based on “a new, unexpected, and extraordinary event,” apparently connected to undisclosed medical reasons. The government did not object, documents show.

In mid-April, the judge granted a continuance of surrender from April 30 to Aug. 30. Huizar’s attorney indicated at the time in a filing that his argument in support of the delay would contain “private medical information” and should be filed under seal.

In a filing this week, Adam Olin, a deputy federal public defender representing Huizar, wrote that the new request for a continuance was related to the under-seal matters discussed in Huizar’s prior request for a continuance.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Friday declined comment.

Huizar, 55, pleaded guilty in January 2023 to felony charges of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and tax evasion.

Along with the 13-year prison term, Huizar was ordered in January to pay nearly $444,000 in restitution to the city of Los Angeles and almost $39,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. A court filing in February signed by the judge indicates Huizar has paid the latter amount in full.

Huizar represented Council District 14, which includes downtown Los Angeles and its surrounding communities, from 2005 until his resignation in 2020. According to his lawyers, Huizar was “an evangelist for robust development” in efforts to ensure Los Angeles was befitting of a “world-class city.”

Huizar admitted to operating a pay-to-play scheme in which he and others unlawfully used his office to give favorable treatment to real estate developers who financed and facilitated cash bribes, campaign donations and other illicit benefits.

Federal prosecutors said Huizar monetized 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.

“If anyone dared rebuff his call to pay bribes, he punished them and their city projects, threatening developers with indefinitely delayed projects and financial peril,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Huizar also admitted to accepting a $600,000 bribe payment in the form of a “loan” from China-based billionaire real estate developer Wei Huang to secretly settle a pending sexual harassment lawsuit against Huizar by a former staffer. Huang was also charged in the case but is considered a fugitive believed to be in China.

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. They included George Esparza, Huizar’s former special assistant, real estate development consultant George Chiang, political fundraiser Justin Jangwoo Kim, and lobbyist Morrie Goldman, among others. Each pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation.

Huizar’s co-defendant, former Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan, who was general manager of the Department of Building and Safety before becoming the city’s deputy mayor of economic development, was convicted at retrial in March of a dozen federal counts, including racketeering conspiracy, bribery, honest services fraud and other charges for helping Huizar in the bribery scheme.

Chan’s sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 4 in downtown Los Angeles.

Before Huizar pleaded guilty to federal charges, he and Chan were scheduled to go on trial together. A mistrial was declared in Chan’s first trial last year due to a defense attorney’s medical emergency.