Jose Huizar, RICO Charge, California 2023

LOS ANGELES - Special agents with the FBI arrested Jose Huizar, a 51-year-old elected member of the Los Angeles City Council, on a federal racketeering charge that alleges he led a criminal enterprise that used his powerful position at City Hall to solicit and accept lucrative bribes and other financial benefits to enrich himself and his close associates in exchange for Huizar taking official actions favorable to the developers and others who financed and facilitated the bribes.

Huizar was taken into custody at his home without incident and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Huizar was arrested pursuant to a federal criminal complaint filed on June 22 and unsealed this morning. The complaint charges Huizar with one count of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and alleges that, as part of the criminal enterprise, he and his associates violated a series of laws, including bribery, honest services fraud, extortion and money laundering.

“This case pulled back the curtain on rampant corruption at City Hall,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “Councilman Huizar violated the public trust to a staggering degree, allegedly soliciting and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from multiple sources over many years. Using the power of his office to approve or stall large building projects, Huizar worked through a web of other corrupt city officials, lobbyists, consultants and developers to line his pockets and maintain his hold on Council District 14, which he turned into a money-making criminal enterprise that shaped the development landscape in Los Angeles.”

Huizar has represented Council District 14 (CD-14), which includes downtown Los Angeles and its surrounding communities, since 2005. In addition to representing an area that has experienced a commercial real estate boom in recent years, Huizar for several years was chair of the city’s influential Planning and Land Use Management Committee, a position he lost after the FBI executed search warrants at his city offices and personal residence in November 2018. During the search of Huizar’s home, agents seized approximately $129,000 cash that was stashed in his closet.

The 116-page affidavit alleges that Huizar operated the “CD-14 Enterprise,” along with co-conspirator members, including “Individual 1,” a former general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety and former deputy mayor; George Esparza, Huizar’s former special assistant; and real estate development consultant George Chiang. Members and associates of the criminal enterprise referred to Huizar as their “boss,” operated as a criminal organization, and worked together for common purposes, the complaint alleges. The CD-14 Enterprise allegedly had several rules and hierarchies, including a system of payments and kickbacks to Huizar and his associates.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/los-angeles-city-councilman-jose-huizar-arrested-federal-rico-charge-alleges-he-agreed