Developer who paid $500,000 bribe to Los Angeles councilman sentenced to 6 years in federal prison

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Developer who paid $500,000 bribe to Los Angeles councilman sentenced to 6 years in federal prison

Published 8:30 PM EDT, July 21, 2023

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A real estate developer was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison for paying $500,000 in bribes to a Los Angeles city councilman for help with a downtown project.

Dae Yong Lee, also known as “David Lee,” also was fined $750,000 and a company that he controlled was fined $1.5 million plus prosecution costs, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

Prosecutors said that in 2017, Lee bribed José Huizar and the councilman’s special assistant to help resolve a labor organization’s appeal that was blocking approval of a planned development that was to include more than 200 residences and some 14,000 square feet (1,300 square meters) of commercial space.

-snip-

Last year, Lee and the company were convicted of bribery, honest services wire fraud and falsifying records in federal investigations to conceal the bribes.

The sentence was the latest in a sweeping corruption case swirling around Huizar, whom authorities said ran a pay-to-play bribery scheme from 2013 to 2017 tied to the approval of downtown high-rise developments.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/real-estate-developer-bribery-jose-huizar-65bbf2719279baf6d32dfb8d6c57d2e6

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Who is the true criminal here?

Mr. Lee or Mr. Huizar? Seems like if there is a "pay to play" scheme going on, it's the bribee that should take the hit. Maybe Lee is the bad guy, but I don't get that from this news release.