{"id":2015377,"date":"2023-08-29T12:09:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T16:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/longtime-democratic-politician-sentenced-to-3-5-years-in-prison-on-corruption-charges\/"},"modified":"2023-08-29T12:10:46","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T16:10:46","slug":"longtime-democratic-politician-sentenced-to-3-5-years-in-prison-on-corruption-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/longtime-democratic-politician-sentenced-to-3-5-years-in-prison-on-corruption-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Democratic politician sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for corruption."},"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\">20<\/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%2Flongtime-democratic-politician-sentenced-to-3-5-years-in-prison-on-corruption-charges%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=2015377&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>Longtime Democratic Politician Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Prison on Corruption\u2064 Charges<\/h2>\n<p>A prominent California Democrat, who previously served \u200das the Los Angeles County supervisor and a city councilman, will spend more than\u2062 three\u200b years \u2062in federal prison \u2064for corruption.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Mark Ridley-Thomas, a former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/judge-rules-man-can-keep-anti-california-license-plate-dmv-calls-racist-defamatory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California<\/a> state\u2064 senator and assemblyman, will spend 42 months behind bars following \u200ba scheme that prosecutors\u200d said was designed for his son to be paid by \u2062the University of \u2064Southern California in \u200cexchange for him using his position to vote\u200c to award the school favorable city contracts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Prosecutors called\u2064 the scheme a \u201cshakedown\u201d that\u200b the local lawmaker\u200c intended to result in his son Sebastian Ridley-Thomas receiving up to $100,000 funneled into\u2063 his non-profit,\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/losangeles\/news\/former-l-a-county-supervisor-and-city-councilman-mark-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/l-a-democrat-running-for-mayor-wants-city-to-resume-daytime-ban-on-homeless-encampments\/\" title=\"L.A. Democrat Running For Mayor Wants City To Resume Daytime Ban On Homeless Encampments\">ridley-thomas<\/a>-sentenced-to-prison\/&#8221; target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; rel=&#8221;noopener&#8221;>CBS \u200cNews<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>Marilyn \u2063Flynn, the former dean of\u2062 the USC School of Social \u2062Work, previously told a court\u200b she\u200b bribed the councilman and was sentenced \u200bin July to three years of \u200bprobation and ordered to\u2063 pay a $150,000 fine.<\/p>\n<p>Ridley-Thomas, 68, was\u200d convicted in March by a jury\u2063 on counts of conspiracy, \u2063bribery, \u200bmail fraud and\u200c wire fraud.<\/p>\n<p>He was \u2062acquitted \u2063on 12 other\u200b counts of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/thousands-defendants-charged-covid-relief-fraud-doj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to\u200d spending more than three years in prison, Ridley-Thomas was \u200dalso ordered by U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer to pay a $30,000 fine.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThere is\u200d simply no justification for monetizing a public office,\u201d \u2064Fischer said in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-cdca\/pr\/mark-ridley-thomas-sentenced-3-12-years-prison-corruptly-securing-benefits-son-school\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a \u2062statement<\/a> \u2063 after \u2064handing down \u200cthe \u200bsentence.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The\u200b prosecution\u200d had asked \u2062Fischer for a sentence\u2063 of\u200b six years in\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/prison-data-shows-ugly-truth-transgender-contagion-activists-continually-deny-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prison<\/a> \u200c and three years of \u2064supervised release.<\/p>\n<p>Ridley-Thomas\u2019 legal team had\u2063 asked for house arrest, community service\u2062 and a fine.<\/p>\n<p>U.S.\u200b Attorney for the \u200bCentral District of California\u2063 Martin Estrada said the\u200b jury\u2019s decision to convict was\u2063 an\u2062 easy one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was\u200d essential to this case was that $100,000 the defendant \u200cin\u2063 this case tried to funnel through \u200dUSC to get to his son\u2019s non-profit,\u201d Estrada said. \u2063\u201cOn that fact pattern, the jury convicted him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prosecution \u2063categorized Ridley-Thomas\u2019 crimes as a scheme that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/longtime-democratic-politician-sentenced-to-3-5-years-in-prison-on-corruption-charges\/\" title=\"Democratic politician sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for corruption.\">ultimately eroded public trust<\/a> in its \u200cinstitutions while arguing for a harsh sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2064former councilman\u200c had participated in crimes that\u200c were not \u201cthe kind in \u2063movies with bags of \u200ccash\u200d or \u200cthreats of force,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/biden-doj-puts-elon-musk-crosshairs-coming-twitter-earlier-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Justice Department<\/a> \u2064 said.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-doj-spied-on-project-veritas-journalists-by-secretly-reading-thousands-of-their-emails-and-snooping-into-their-sources\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s DOJ Spied On Project Veritas Journalists By Secretly Reading Thousands Of Their Emails And Snooping Into Their Sources\">federal government claimed<\/a> that Ridley-Thomas committed crimes that happen \u201ctoo often by \u200dsophisticated, powerful people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe\u2063 kind to\u2063 which society, \u200csadly, has become so accustomed that it often goes unreported and rarely yields \u200dconsequences \u2063for the offender but strikes a devastating blow to \u2063the integrity \u200dof our democratic system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ridley-Thomas \u2062was suspended from \u200bthe \u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/zg-los-angeles-city-council-adopts-ihra-anti-semitism-definition-jewish-organizations-commend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">L.A. City Council<\/a> during\u2063 his \u200btrial.<\/p>\n<p>Upon his conviction in the spring, he was expelled.<\/p>\n<p>Ridley Thomas was first elected to the \u2063L.A. City \u200bCouncil in 1991 before he served in the state legislature from\u2062 2002 to 2008.<\/p>\n<p>He made his\u2062 return to the city government following two years in\u2063 the state Senate.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/longtime-democratic-politician-sentenced-3-5-years-prison-corruption-charges\/\">Longtime Democratic Politician Sentenced to 3.5 \u200dYears in Prison on Corruption Charges<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A California Democrat, once a county supervisor and city councilman, will serve over three years in federal prison for corruption. Mark Ridley-Thomas, a former state senator and assemblyman, will spend 42 months behind bars. Prosecutors claimed he orchestrated a scheme benefiting his son.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2006,"featured_media":2015378,"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":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"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\/2015377","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\/2006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2015378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}