{"id":2003111,"date":"2023-08-16T21:38:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T01:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-anaheim-mayor-to-plead-guilty-to-stadium-sale-corruption-charges-city-considers-reform-options\/"},"modified":"2023-08-16T21:40:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T01:40:07","slug":"ex-anaheim-mayor-to-plead-guilty-to-stadium-sale-corruption-charges-city-considers-reform-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-anaheim-mayor-to-plead-guilty-to-stadium-sale-corruption-charges-city-considers-reform-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Anaheim Mayor to Admit Guilt in Stadium Sale Corruption Case, City Weighs Reform Choices."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fex-anaheim-mayor-to-plead-guilty-to-stadium-sale-corruption-charges-city-considers-reform-options%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2003111&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Former\u2062 Anaheim Mayor Harry \u200cSidhu\u200d Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges<\/h2>\n<p>Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges related to the now-defunct Angel Stadium sale. This decision comes just\u2062 a day after the Southern California city council announced plans to\u2064 reform the way\u2064 the city conducts business in response \u2064to a recent corruption investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The charges against Sidhu include obstruction of \u200cjustice, wire fraud, and lying to federal investigators. These charges stem from his actions during the city&#8217;s efforts\u2063 to sell the stadium in 2020, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-gaetz-invites-britney-spears-to-testify-before-congress\/\" title=\"Rep. Gaetz invites Britney Spears to testify before Congress\">court documents filed<\/a> \u200con\u200c August 16.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;While\u200d serving as Anaheim&#8217;s mayor, Mr. Sidhu took a series of actions that compromised\u2063 the \u2064city&#8217;s negotiating position by providing confidential information and secretly working to influence the city&#8217;s decision-making \u200dprocess\u2014all of which had\u200c a detrimental effect on the \u2064city and its residents,&#8221; said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/anaheim-investigation-finds-possible-criminal-conspiracy-theft-of-public-funds-5441217\">Anaheim Investigation Finds Possible Criminal Conspiracy, Theft of Public Funds<\/a> &#8211; 8\/2\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/california-assemblyman-requests-urgent-state-audit-of-anaheim-following-corruption-probe-release-5446599\">California Assemblyman Requests Urgent State Audit of Anaheim Following \u200cCorruption Probe \u2063Release<\/a> &#8211; 8\/5\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Prosecutors allege that during \u2064the stadium\u2064 sale negotiations, Sidhu provided \u200cconfidential information to an Angels consultant and the\u200b then-Anaheim Chamber of \u2063Commerce Co-President Todd Ament. They claim that Sidhu expected a \u2064$1 million\u200d campaign contribution from the baseball team in exchange for the information.<\/p>\n<p>Sidhu resigned last year after the Federal Bureau of Investigations released an affidavit implicating him in corruption.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Mayor of Anaheim Harry Sidhu spoke at \u2062a broadcasted event in Anaheim, Calif., on \u2064Sept. 16, 2020. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At\u2064 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/portland-mayor-laughs-at-womens-safety-concerns-over-rising-homelessness-problem\/\" title=\"Portland Mayor Laughs at Women's Safety Concerns Over Rising Homelessness Problem\">recent city council meeting<\/a>, Anaheim councilors discussed the findings of\u2062 a city-commissioned report that \u200bdetailed possible\u2062 criminal conspiracy and alleged theft of COVID-19 relief funds. Mayor Ashleigh Aitken proposed various actions to address the allegations, but the council took a more cautious \u2064approach.<\/p>\n<p>One <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-anaheim-mayor-to-plead-guilty-to-stadium-sale-corruption-charges-city-considers-reform-options\/\" title=\"Former Anaheim Mayor to Admit Guilt in Stadium Sale Corruption Case, City Weighs Reform Choices.\">proposal suggested stopping funding<\/a> for Visit Anaheim, a nonprofit \u200btourism agency mentioned in the report. Investigators claim that the agency received $6.5\u2062 million in Anaheim COVID-19 relief funds based on Sidhu&#8217;s advice. The report also alleges that Sidhu\u200c orchestrated the firing of former City Manager Chris Zapata when he spoke out\u2064 against the\u200d funding decision.<\/p>\n<p>The report \u2062further states that Sidhu directed Visit Anaheim&#8217;s director to divert $1.5 million of\u2064 the COVID funds\u200b to\u200b the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and to cover \u200dup the transaction if questioned.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Anaheim City Hall in \u2064Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 26, 2021. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During\u200c the council meeting, councilors voted\u2062 to study the possibility of withholding\u2062 future funds from Visit Anaheim. However, Councilman \u200cJose Diaz expressed concerns about the potential impact on the city&#8217;s tourism industry.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not that I support what \u2064these people have done,&#8221;\u200d said Diaz. &#8220;It might hurt the\u200b people that we tried to protect.\u2062 I believe it is\u200c going\u200d to hurt the people of Anaheim.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Mayor Aitken \u200dechoed these concerns, emphasizing the importance of a functioning tourism bureau for \u200dthe city&#8217;s economy. She also\u200c suggested exploring the return of the $1.5 million in \u200dCOVID funds from\u2064 Visit Anaheim.<\/p>\n<p>In another action, councilors unanimously \u200dagreed to write a letter to the state auditor, expressing their willingness to cooperate fully with any\u2062 state \u2064investigations related to the report.<\/p>\n<p>Assemblyman Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu will plead guilty to federal charges related to the Angel Stadium sale. This comes after the city council&#8217;s decision to explore new ways of conducting business following a corruption investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":2003112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}