{"id":54614,"date":"2023-11-07T12:13:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T20:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54614"},"modified":"2023-11-07T12:30:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T20:30:51","slug":"former-n-y-lawyer-sentenced-to-33-months-in-prison-for-accepting-2-2-million-kickback-in-l-a-water-and-power-litigation-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=54614","title":{"rendered":"Former N.Y. Lawyer Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Accepting $2.2 Million Kickback in L.A. Water and Power Litigation Corruption Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<strong>LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><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\" \/>A disbarred New York City lawyer, who simultaneously represented the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and a ratepayer suing the City of Los Angeles in the wake of an LADWP billing debacle, was sentenced today to 33 months in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">He accepted a kickback of nearly $2.2 million for causing another lawyer to purportedly represent his ratepayer client in a collusive lawsuit against the city, which enabled the city to settle the case on favorable terms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. sentenced<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Paul O. Paradis, 60, of Scottsdale, Arizona, who once ran the Manhattan-based Paradis Law Group.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">At Tuesday&#8217;s hearing, Judge Blumenfeld said Paradis intentionally placed himself \u201cat the center of sophisticated and greedy schemes of corruption that wreaked havoc on individuals and institutions alike.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> Judge Blumenfeld further explained that Paradis was motivated by \u201cpure greed\u201d and said the level of corruption in the case was \u201cmind-boggling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Paradis pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of bribery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"DWP Scandal: What Did the Los Angeles City Attorney Know? | NBCLA\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1RqkDoa-iTY?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><strong>(News Report a Year Ago)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In 2013, LADWP implemented a new billing system that it had procured from an outside vendor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> After LADWP rolled out the new system, hundreds of thousands of LADWP ratepayers received massively inflated and otherwise inaccurate utility bills. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Soon afterward, the city and LADWP faced multiple class-action lawsuits filed by ratepayers alleging harm resulting from the faulty billing system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In December 2014, the Los Angeles City Attorney\u2019s Office retained Paradis as special counsel to represent the city in a lawsuit against PwC. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">When Paradis began representing the city as special counsel in the PwC litigation, the Los Angeles City Attorney\u2019s Office was aware that he was simultaneously representing Antwon Jones, a ratepayer who had a claim against LADWP arising from billing overcharges. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Jones was unaware that his lawyer, Paradis, also represented his intended adversary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7857 alignleft\" 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\" \/>At a February 2015 meeting with at least one senior member of the City Attorney\u2019s Office, Paradis was authorized and directed to find counsel that would be friendly to the city to represent Jones in a class-action lawsuit against the city. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Under this so-called \u201cwhite knight\u201d strategy, the forthcoming <i>Jones v. City of Los Angeles<\/i> lawsuit would be used as a vehicle to settle all existing LADWP billing-related claims against the city on the city\u2019s desired terms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Soon thereafter, Paradis recruited an Ohio lawyer to nominally represent Jones in the White Knight lawsuit, with the understanding that Paradis would do virtually all the work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"> In exchange, and unbeknownst to the city, Paradis and the Ohio lawyer agreed that Paradis would receive 20% of the Ohio lawyer\u2019s fees in the <i>Jones v. City<\/i>\u00a0case as a secret kickback.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In July 2017, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued final approval of the $67 million settlement agreed to by the parties in <i>Jones v. City<\/i>, including approximately $19 million in plaintiffs\u2019 attorney fees, of which the Ohio lawyer and his law firm obtained approximately $10.3 million. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Ohio lawyer then secretly paid $2,175,000 to Paradis, disguising the kickback as a real estate investment and funneling it through shell companies that Paradis and the Ohio lawyer had set up exclusively to conceal the illicit payment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Paradis also admitted bribing LADWP\u2019s general manager, David H. Wright, to obtain a lucrative $30 million no-bid contract in June 2017 to remediate LADWP\u2019s billing system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In another secret deal, Wright lobbied the LADWP Board to approve the contract for Aventador Utility Solutions, a downtown Los Angeles-based cyber services company formed by Paradis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In exchange for the secret deal, Paradis promised to make Wright Aventador\u2019s future CEO and give him a $1 million annual salary and a luxury car.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">When it approved the no-bid contract, the LADWP Board was not informed that Paradis had ghostwritten a May 2017 independent monitor report on the <i>Jones v. City<\/i>\u00a0settlement on which LADWP based its decision. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The Paradis-written report claimed that LADWP could not meet its obligations under the\u00a0<i>Jones v. City<\/i>\u00a0settlement agreement unless it contracted with Aventador. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The LADWP Board was also unaware that Wright was advocating for awarding the $30 million no-bid contract to Paradis\u2019s company because he had been bribed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Paradis plead guilty to a cooperation plea agreement that requires Paradis to provide information to federal investigators and the State Bar of California, which is conducting its disciplinary investigation related to the collusive litigation scheme, in exchange for potential sentencing consideration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Federal prosecutors said Paradis\u2019 cooperation helped secure the guilty pleas of the following defendants:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u00a0Wright, who also pleaded guilty to bribery<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">\u00a0Thomas H. Peters, the former litigation chief of the City Attorney\u2019s Office, pleaded guilty to extortion in connection with covering up the collusive litigation<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">David F. Alexander, LADWP\u2019s former Chief Information Security Officer, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about bribery-related conversations with Paradis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In court papers and at Tuesday\u2019s hearing, federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of 18 months\u2019 imprisonment based on Paradis\u2019 cooperation with the federal and State Bar of California investigations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Judge Blumenfeld acknowledged the basis for the government\u2019s recommendation but stated a higher sentence was necessary to account for Paradis\u2019 conduct, which Judge Blumenfeld said, \u201cshattered public confidence in the government and legal profession.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/former-head-ladwp-sentenced-six-years-federal-prison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Wright<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/former-ladwp-executive-sentenced-four-years-federal-prison-lying-fbi-about-secret\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Alexander<\/a>\u00a0are serving federal prison sentences of six years and four years, respectively, after pleading guilty to felony offenses in this case. Peters was sentenced to probation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The FBI investigated this matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"KABC LA:  Consumer Watchdog Alleges Corruption During LADWP Over-billing Settlement\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x2q9KV83XQY?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><strong>(News Report Four Years Ago)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv9978934636MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Jamari Buxton and Susan S. Har of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section prosecuted this case.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES A disbarred New York City lawyer, who simultaneously represented the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and a ratepayer suing the City of Los Angeles in the wake&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former N.Y. Lawyer Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Accepting $2.2 Million Kickback in L.A. 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