Thomas H. Peters, Aiding and Abetting Extortion, California 2023

Former Los Angeles City Attorney’s Official Pleads Guilty to Aiding and Abetting Extortion

LOS ANGELES, California – A former senior official at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge for threatening to fire a plaintiffs’ attorney from a lucrative special counsel job with the city unless the attorney paid a substantial extortion demand from a former employee who was threatening to expose the city’s collusive litigation over its faulty water-and-power billing system.

Thomas H. Peters, 55, of Pacific Palisades, agreed to plead guilty to a one-count information charging him with aiding and abetting extortion, a crime that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

The information and plea agreement were filed today in United States District Court. Peters is expected to make his initial court appearance on February 7.

This is the fourth plea agreement federal prosecutors have filed in relation to the ongoing investigation concerning corruption and collusion involving the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Peters is cooperating with the investigation.

Peters served as the chief of the Civil Litigation Branch of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office from February 2014 to March 2019. By December 2014, the city and LADWP were facing multiple class-action lawsuits over the flawed rollout of a new billing system during the previous year.

Defendant: Thomas H. Peters, Aiding and Abetting Extortion, California 2023

Criminal Charges: Aiding and Abetting Extortion

City and State: Los Angeles, California

Exact Date: February 7, 2023

Sentence or Outcome: Pending

Dollar Amounts: None applicable

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