{"id":53939,"date":"2023-08-28T18:25:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T01:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53939"},"modified":"2023-08-28T18:28:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T01:28:00","slug":"l-a-longtime-politician-sentenced-to-federal-prison-for-shaking-down-university-dean-to-benefit-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53939","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Longtime Politician Sentenced to Federal Prison for &#8220;Shaking Down&#8221; USC University Dean to Benefit Son"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<strong>LOS ANGELES\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3918 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Department-of-Justice-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Department-of-Justice-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Department-of-Justice-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Department-of-Justice.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>According to officials, Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced Monday to three years and six months in federal prison for a bribery and fraud scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The longtime politician demanded benefits for his son from a university dean in exchange for Ridley-Thomas\u2019 political support for lucrative Los Angeles County business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer sentenced Ridley-Thomas, 68, of Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who also ordered Ridley-Thomas to pay a $30,000 fine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">At Monday&#8217;s hearing, Judge Fischer said Ridley-Thomas engaged in a \u201cshakedown\u201d and that he used his \u201c[political] support as a bargaining chip to get benefits for his son.\u201d Judge Fischer also noted, \u201cThere is simply no justification for monetizing a public office.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At the conclusion of a 16-day trial, a federal jury on March 30 found Ridley-Thomas guilty of one count of conspiracy, bribery, honest services mail fraud, and honest services wire fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Former LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas sentenced to 3+ years in corruption case\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zNSk6-8ktq8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ridley-Thomas, whose political career spans more than 30 years, was a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors member when he participated in the corrupt scheme. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Ridley-Thomas subsequently was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, which suspended him after a federal grand jury in October 2021 indicted him in this case, and he was permanently removed from the City Council following the guilty verdicts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis case, together with my office\u2019s many other prosecutions of politicians, law enforcement officers, and public officials, shows our commitment to root out corruption and hold responsible those who flout the law and abuse their positions of trust,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. \u201cOur community deserves and demands elected leaders who do not place personal benefit over the good of their constituents \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mark Ridley-Thomas sentenced to 42 months in prison\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k0i6kcDnuKQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMr. Ridley-Thomas was elected to serve the people of Los Angeles but instead, his deliberate actions served his own interests and those of his family member,\u201d said Donald Alway, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7857 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png 289w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo.png 636w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/>\u201cThe FBI will continue to target the corruption that erodes trust in government so the people of Los Angeles can have faith in their elected officials.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The jury found that Ridley-Thomas engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Marilyn Louise Flynn, 84, of Los Feliz, formerly the dean of the University of Southern California\u2019s School of Social Work and a tenured professor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In December 2017, citing health issues, Ridley-Thomas\u2019 son abruptly resigned from the California State Assembly. At the time of his resignation, Ridley-Thomas\u2019 son was the subject of a sexual harassment investigation in the Assembly, a fact not known by USC or the public. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Behind the scenes, Ridley-Thomas orchestrated a media and legal campaign, using a public relations team to convince the public his son was ill and a legal team to stall the Assembly\u2019s investigation indefinitely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Ridley-Thomas sought \u201clanding spots\u201d for his son, prosecutors said, to preserve the Ridley-Thomas family legacy and Ridley-Thomas\u2019 own political brand in advance of a planned run for Los Angeles mayor in 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-53774 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1yeql23dvji-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"brown wooden chairs inside room\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1yeql23dvji-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1yeql23dvji-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1yeql23dvji-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/1yeql23dvji.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>These \u201cspots\u201d included prestigious titles, advanced degrees, and paying jobs to help his son deal with mounting personal debt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ridley-Thomas solicited Flynn\u2019s help securing these spots for his son. He knew that Flynn needed his help obtaining county contracts, and prosecutors argued that he \u201cmonetized\u201d his public service by using the power of his elected office as a \u201cbargaining chip\u201d to enrich his family and preserve his political image.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">During the conspiracy\u2019s course, Flynn ultimately met Ridley-Thomas\u2019 demands by providing his son graduate school admission to pursue a dual master\u2019s degree, a full-tuition scholarship, a paid professorship, and a mechanism for Ridley-Thomas to funnel $100,000 of his campaign funds through the university to a non-profit operated by the son \u2013 the Policy, Research &amp; Practice Initiative (PRPI).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">By funneling the payment through USC, Ridley-Thomas attempted to disguise the true source of a $100,000 payment to make it appear that USC, not Ridley-Thomas, was the generous benefactor supporting his son and PRPI.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_53940\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53940\" style=\"width: 405px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-53940 \" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/th-26-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"405\" height=\"243\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-53940\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Ridley-Thomas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">As part of their scheme, Ridley-Thomas and Flynn defrauded USC and others by concealing their secret arrangement and lying to the university about the purpose of Ridley-Thomas\u2019 $100,000 donation of campaign funds to USC, as well as the reason for Flynn\u2019s request that the university make a $100,000 payment to PRPI. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Had USC known about their scheme or the lies both told, USC would not have accepted Ridley-Thomas\u2019 $100,000 donation, nor would it have approved the subsequent $100,000 payment to PRPI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">In exchange for Flynn\u2019s help funneling the $100,000 in campaign funds through USC to PRPI and his son, Ridley-Thomas supported a lucrative amendment to an existing contract between the county and USC through which the USC Telehealth Clinic provided virtual mental health services to patients referred by the county in exchange for taxpayer dollars. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-53941 alignleft\" style=\"font-size: 16px;\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/th-27-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" \/>On the face of the contract, the amended terms offered USC more than $500,000 in revenue, although according to evidence at trial, Flynn anticipated an even greater return \u2013 potentially up to $8 million in new revenue \u2013 with <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Ridley-Thomas\u2019 assistance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">In addition, while soliciting benefits from Flynn, Ridley-Thomas supported other contracts involving the Social Work School, including contracts to provide services to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the county\u2019s Probation Department. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">During the conspiracy, Ridley-Thomas voted on three county proposals, including the amended Telehealth contract, that Flynn had sought to shore up her school\u2019s financial situation as it faced a multimillion-dollar budget deficit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Ridley-Thomas also worked to influence key county decision-makers associated with these approvals. They made sure Flynn knew of his efforts while he sought lucrative benefits for his son from Flynn.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flynn\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/former-dean-usc-s-social-work-school-agrees-plead-guilty-bribery-funneling-100000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">pleaded guilty<\/a>\u00a0in September 2022 to one count of bribery. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">On July 24, Judge Fischer sentenced Flynn to three years of probation, including 18 months of home confinement, and fined her $150,000.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The FBI investigated this matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey Greer Dotson, Thomas F. Rybarczyk and Michael J. Morse of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section prosecuted this case.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv6209599937MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES\u00a0 According to officials, Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced Monday to three years and six months in federal prison for a bribery and fraud scheme. The longtime politician demanded benefits for his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>L.A. Longtime Politician Sentenced to Federal Prison for &quot;Shaking Down&quot; USC University Dean to Benefit Son<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES\u00a0 According to officials, Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced Monday to three years and six months in federal prison for a bribery and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53939\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"L.A. Longtime Politician Sentenced to Federal Prison for &quot;Shaking Down&quot; USC University Dean to Benefit Son\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES\u00a0 According to officials, Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced Monday to three years and six months in federal prison for a bribery and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=53939\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-29T01:25:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-29T01:28:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/th-26-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=53939#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=53939\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"L.A. 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