Former L.A. City Councilmember José Huizar began serving his 13-year prison sentence on Monday for his role in a motley array of corruption and bribery schemes that shattered public faith in City Hall.
Huizar was sentenced in January and ordered to surrender in April but received permission to on account of medical concerns, according to court filings. On Monday, he surrendered to the Bureau of Prisons and is in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc II, a low-security prison for male inmates in Santa Barbara County, according to reporting from the . His attorney declined to comment.
Last year, Huizar to felony charges of racketeering and tax evasion. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay nearly $444,000 in restitution to the city of Los Angeles and nearly $39,000 to the IRS. U.
S. District Judge John F. Walter, who delivered the sentence, said the 13 years were necessary to “engender respect” for the nation’s anti-corruption laws as well as to acknowledge the extreme harm the former council member had caused to his constituents, to the city and to democracy itself.
Huizar orchestrated a pay-to-play scheme in which lucrative opportunities in his downtown Los Angeles district were granted to real estate developers in return for lavish gifts and bribes. Prosecutors alleged that during his time in power he secured $1.5 million in cash bribes, gambling chips, luxury hotel stays, political contributions, prostitute services, expensive mea.