DA Charges LA City Councilmember Curren Price With Embezzlement, Perjury

L.A. City Councilmember Curren Price was charged with 10 counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest Tuesday, the latest city official charged with public corruption in recent years.

Price, 72, has been charged with five counts of grand theft, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to Tiffany Blacknell, a spokesperson for District Attorney George Gascón's office.

Details of the indictment

The charges stem from "a financial interest in projects that [Price] voted on and having the city pay for medical benefits for his now wife while he was still married to another woman," Gascón said in a news release,

"According to a criminal complaint, Price’s wife allegedly received payments totaling more than $150,000 between 2019 and 2021 from developers before he voted to approve projects," the statement added. "He also is accused of failing to list the money his wife received on government disclosure forms."

Further, Price is charged with receiving about $33,800 in medical coverage for his wife while he was still married to another woman, according to the statement.

Council President will move to suspend Price

In a statement released Tuesday evening, Council President Paul Krekorian said he will introduce a motion at Wednesday's council meeting to suspend Price. Krekorian said Price has resigned as President Pro Tempore of the council, and that he has removed Price from his committee assignments at his request.

As the suspension motion works its way through the Rules Committee, Krekorian said, "We will begin a process of outreach to the people of the district to hear what course of action they believe would be most appropriate to ensure that they are not harmed by a potential vacancy of this Council seat and that they continue to receive the services of their Council office.”

“While I am deeply saddened to learn of these charges," Krekorian wrote, "I am confident that justice will be served by the legal process. In the meantime, the City Charter does not permit the Council to remove or replace a sitting member who has not been convicted of a criminal offense, and we should all honor the presumption of innocence."

Response from Price's office

Angelina Valencia-Dumarot, a spokesperson for Price, said his office had not yet seen the charges.

"It’s highly unusual for charges like this to be brought up against a sitting City Councilmember without any prior notice or discussion," Valencia-Dumarot said. "Curren Price is a longstanding public servant who has given his life to the City of Los Angeles. He looks forward to defending himself once he’s had an opportunity to address these charges.”

Price has served on the council for 10 years and spent seven years before that in the state legislature. He represents the 9th Council District, which stretches from parts of downtown — including the L.A. Convention Center and the L.A. Live Complex — and straddles the 110 Freeway through Vermont Square to the west, the Central-Alameda Corridor to the east and Green Meadows to the south.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass said, "The Mayor has yet to review the charges filed earlier today but she is saddened by this news."

Prior public corruption cases

In March, a federal jury found former Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas guilty of bribery, conspiracy, and wire fraud. The case involved him extracting benefits for his son from USC while voting on issues that benefited the school during his time as a member of the county board of supervisors.

He has appealed the verdict.

In January, as part of a plea agreement, former Councilmember José Huizar pleaded guilty to federal charges of racketeering and tax evasion. The agreement includes Huizar promising not to ask for less than nine years in prison, while prosecutors agree not to request a sentence longer than 13 years.

His sentencing is set for later this year.

In 2021, former Councilmember Mitch Englander was sentenced to 14 months in prison after he agreed to plead guilty to a single count of scheming to obstruct an FBI corruption investigation.

City Hall was racked by further scandal last October when someone released a secretly recorded conversation among three councilmembers and the powerful head of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Some of their remarks were considered racist, homophobic and anti-indigenous and led to the resignation of then-council president Nury Martinez. It also led to calls for the resignation of Councilmember Kevin De León.

The charges against Price could affect the race to replace Martinez in the 6th Council District in the San Fernando Valley. Price’s deputy chief of staff Marisa Alcaraz is among the candidates.

She faces community organizer Imelda Padilla in that race. Padilla worked for Martinez for 18 months out of college as one of her field deputies.

This is a developing story and will be updated.