Antelope Valley Press

Longtime LA politician guilty of corruption charges

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A longtime Los Angeles politician was convicted Thursday on federal corruption charges in a scheme in which prosecutors said he promised to help steer a multimillion-dollar government contract to the University of Southern California if his son got a scholarship and a teaching job.

Suspended Democratic City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas — a former legislator, county supervisor and a fixture in local politics for decades — was found guilty in US District Court of seven felonies, including conspiracy, bribery and fraud.

The jury’s verdict marked a stunning fall for a once-commanding figure in Los Angeles County politics known for his involvement in civil rights and racial issues.

Marilyn Flynn, who was dean of USC’s School of Social Work from 1997 to 2018, pleaded guilty last year to one count of bribery in the case. Prosecutors said that as part of the plot, she concocted a scheme to funnel $100,000 that Ridley-Thomas provided from campaign funds through the university to a nonprofit run by his son.

“When elected leaders engage in acts of corruption, our community suffers immense damage. Ridley-Thomas engaged in a corrupt conspiracy with a university dean to steer taxpayer-funded contracts to the school in exchange for benefits for his son,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.

Mark Ridley-Thomas, then a county supervisor, offered to support county contracts for USC’s School of Social Work that could potentially bring the institution millions of dollars in new revenue in return for helping his son, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, according to prosecutors. At the time, the school had a multimillion-dollar budget deficit.

Sebastian Ridley-Thomas was a state assemblyman who resigned the last day of 2017 while facing allegations that he made an unwanted sexual advance toward a Capitol staffer. The $100,000 went to his organization, known as the Policy, Research & Practice Initiative, prosecutors said.

The son later received a $26,000 graduate scholarship for 2018 and was offered a paid teaching position with a $50,000 salary, even though being a student and a teacher would violate school policy, authorities said.

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2023-03-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-31T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://avpress.pressreader.com/article/281556590088997

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