LA Councilmember Curren Price ordered to stand trial on corruption charges

Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price Jr. was ordered to stand trial on corruption charges Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba made the decision after a six-day preliminary hearing

where prosecutors presented a wide range of evidence against the 75-year-old Price, including documents showing he voted to support projects that benefitted his wife’s business.

Price faces 12 felony counts: five counts of grand theft by embezzlement of public funds, four counts of conflict of interest and three counts of perjury by declaration.

Keep up with LAist.

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.

Subscribe

If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 11 years behind bars.

“I’m glad that we were able to put on the evidence and the judge heard it and we get to move forward,” said Deputy District Attorney Casey Higgins, who presented the case.

Price has pleaded not guilty.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” said Price defense attorney Michael Schafler. “We are going to continue to fight.”

Price declined to comment after the hearing.

Conflict of interest charges

Price, who represents a large swath of South L.A., is termed out of office at the end of the year. He is a veteran L.A. politician who has served in the state senate and assembly and on the Inglewood City Council.

The conflict of interest charges relate to Price’s failure to recuse himself on votes involving projects in which his wife benefitted, according to prosecutors. Delbra Price Richardson provides relocation services and community engagement on big projects.

During the hearing, prosecutors presented evidence that the city’s Housing Authority and LA Metro paid Price’s wife more than $800,000 at the same time Price voted to award the agency's multimillion-dollar contracts.

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Del Richardson & Associates, a company owned solely by Price’s wife, received payments totaling more than $150,000 between 2019 and 2021 from developers before he voted to approve their projects.

Former Price staffers testified about their system for flagging projects where there was a conflict of interest. But they conceded some projects slipped through the cracks.

Schafler said Price didn’t know about the conflicts at the time.

“There is no evidence Mr. Price knew of conflicts or that he acted with any wrongful intent,” the defense attorney said. “Prosecutors presented no evidence of Price's state of mind.”

He also noted the projects “overwhelmingly” passed the City Council and that Price’s vote made no difference.

Higgins, the deputy district attorney, argued it was ultimately Price’s responsibility to recuse himself from voting on projects involving his wife. The prosecutor told the judge Price tried to “create a wall around himself” with staffers who would give him “plausible deniability.”

The perjury charges relate to Price allegedly failing to include Richardson’s income on disclosure forms. Schafler said the statute of limitations had run out on the charge.

Price is also accused of embezzling approximately $33,800 in city funds from 2013-2017 to pay for medical benefits for Richardson, whom he falsely claimed was his wife while still legally married to Lynn Suzette Price.

“He's nickel and diming the government at every turn,” Higgins told the court.

“Your honor, this is not the kind of case with strippers and hookers and bags of cash and cocaine,” he said. “It's a long secret corruption.”

Statement from Price’s office

After the judge’s decision, Price’s spokesperson Angelina Valencia-Dumarot issued a statement.

“The testimony presented during the hearing, including from key witnesses, clearly shows that Councilman Price did not act with any intent to do wrong and that the case rests on speculation rather than facts. While the court’s ruling is disappointing, the Councilmember remains fully committed to fighting these charges, clearing his name, and is confident the truth will ultimately prevail.”

No trial date has been set. The next court date is March 13.