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LA Coliseum’s ex-events manager sentenced in embezzlement case
The Los Angeles Coliseum, venue for the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games, and one of the possible locations for a public memorial service for music legend Michael Jackson, is pictured on July 1, 2009 in Los Angeles.
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A former events manager for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has been sentenced to six months in county jail and fined $500,000 in a bribery and embezzlement case from 2012.
Todd DeStefano, 43, last month pleaded no contest to a felony conflict of interest charge for allegedly diverting Coliseum event funds to his own company, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
In addition to the fine and jail time, DeStefano was placed on formal probation for three years, the DA’s office said.
In August, rave music festival promoter Reza Gerami was fined $30,000 for a misdemeanor charge related to the case. Another music promoter, Pasquale Rotella, was fined $150,000. Both men were placed on probation for three years.
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The men’s companies, Go Ventures and Insomniac, respectively, sponsored Coliseum events and participated in DeStefano’s scheme, according to the DA’s office.
Prosecutors had filed more serious charges against DeStefano and Gerami, alleging that they were part of a scheme in which music promoters paid kickbacks and bribes in exchange for receiving Coliseum contracts at cut-rate prices.
The former general manager of the Coliseum, Patrick Lynch, was agreed to pay $385,000 after pleading guilty to a felony conflict of interest charge back in 2012.
DeStefano was expected to begin serving his sentence on Sept. 20.
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