Dae Yong Lee (inset) and former Councilman José Huizar (Getty, iStock, Federal Prosecutors, Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)
A jury has found a Los Angeles developer guilty of bribing former Councilman Jose Huizar.
The federal jury found that Dae Yong Lee, also known as David Lee, paid a $500,000 bribe to ensure Huizar would get his 20-story project through city planning approvals, the Los Angeles Times reported. It also found Lee guilty of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
The same jury found Lee’s company, 940 Hill, guilty on the same three counts. Lee is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 19.
The verdicts marked a win for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the first of three trials in the corruption case related to Huizar.
The next trial in the Huizar case, set for October, will focus on the real estate firm Shenzhen New World Group and its chairman, Wei Huang.
Shenzhen and Huang are alleged to have helped Huizar pay off a staffer who had accused him of sexual harassment. Shenzhen, which has pleaded not guilty, had been seeking to build a 77-story Downtown skyscraper. Huang, a fugitive, has not appeared in court.
Huizar himself is scheduled to be tried next year on racketeering, bribery and other charges in a case focusing on financial benefits allegedly given to the public official in return for city approvals of Downtown high-rises.
He has pleaded not guilty on all counts, claiming the payments were legal and that he acted only as an “evangelist for robust development.”
In the first case, prosecutors accused Lee of providing $500,000 in cash to ensure the councilman would support his mixed-use project and quash an appeal by the trade union group Creed LA.
Justin Kim, a political fixer and campaign fundraiser, picked up the cash from Lee, handing part of it to Huizar’s high-level aide, George Esparza.
Esparza, who has pleaded guilty in the case, testified that he took part in two “money drops” near Lee’s office. He said he delivered $200,000 in bribe money to Huizar, only to be told by his boss that he should hide it. Huizar later tried to get the money back, he said.
Kim, who pleaded guilty in the case, admitted to keeping a portion of the bribe, as did Esparza. Both Kim and Esparza await sentencing.
Ariel Neuman, Lee’s lawyer, said his client believed the $500,000 had gone to pay for legitimate consulting fees on the tower project. He said it wasn’t unusual for Lee, who works in the fashion industry, to have lots of cash in his office.
During the trial, jurors saw photos showing stacks of $100 bills, painstakingly documented by Esparza. They heard government audio of a conversation between Esparza and Huizar, allegedly held in the councilman’s private City Hall bathroom.
Neuman expressed disappointment in the jury’s verdict, saying the evidence showed that “Mr. Lee was a victim of other people’s fraud.”
Lee intends to appeal and has filed a separate motion seeking to dismiss the fraud charge.
[Los Angeles Times] – Dana Bartholomew
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