LA Councilman Curren Price charged with perjury, embezzlement
Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price - charged Tuesday, June 13, with theft by embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest for allegedly voting on projects involving developers tied to his wife's consulting firm, then failing to report the connections - immediately stepped down from his role as council president pro tempore and all committee assignments, saying he did not want to be a distraction.
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What charges have been brought against Curren Price Jr.?
"While I navigate through the judicial system to defend my name against unwarranted charges filed against me, the last thing I want to do is be a distraction to the people's Business," Price wrote in a letter to Council President Paul Krekorian.
"I have had no greater privilege than to serve the people of Los Angeles and specifically the residents of District 9 and I look forward to having the opportunity to continue to be a strong voice for our culturally rich South Central, a part of our city that has long been disenfranchised, overlooked and forgotten," he wrote.
Krekorian announced late Tuesday that he had removed Price from all council committees after receiving Price's letter. He said he will introduce a motion during Wednesday's meeting to start the process of suspending Price from the council, a consideration that would first be taken up by the council's rules committee before being put before the full council.
"At the same time, 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," Krekorian said.
The council president added that the city council can't remove or replace a sitting member who hasn't been convicted of a criminal offense "and we should all honor the presumption of innocence."
The criminal complaint the District Attorney's office filed alleges that Price effectively embezzled money between 2013 and 2017 by having the city cover roughly $33,800 in medical premiums for Del Richardson, to whom he claimed to be married, though he was still married at the time to Lynn Suzette Price.
Price, 72, has represented the Ninth District, which includes most of South L.A. and Exposition Park, since 2013. His current term expires in 2026.
Until announcing Tuesday that he would step down immediately from City Council committee assignments, Price was serving as chair of two committees - the economic and community development committee and the ad hoc committee on the 2028 Olympics and paralympics. In addition, he was vice chair of the budget and personnel committees as well as one regarding rules, elections and intergovernmental relations. He also served on a sixth committee, the Civil Rights, Equity, Immigration, Aging and Disability committee.
Price previously served in the state Assembly and state Senate as well as on the Inglewood City Council.
On Tuesday, the councilmember was charged with five counts of grand theft by embezzlement, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to a criminal complaint provided by the District Attorney's Office. An arraignment date was not immediately set.
Price's spokesperson,, Angelina Valencia-Dumarot, told City News Service before the councilmember sent his letter to the council president that, "We have not seen the charges filed against Councilmember Curren Price. It's highly unusual for charges like this to be brought up against a sitting City Councilmember without any prior notice or discussion.
"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," she said.
Zach Seidl, spokesman for Mayor Karen Bass, issued a statement saying, "The mayor has yet to review the charges filed earlier today but she is saddened by this news."
According to the complaint, between 2019 and 2021, Price's wife's consulting firm, Del Richardson & Associates, received payments totaling more than $150,000 from a pair of developers, after which Price voted on matters pertaining to the companies. He also allegedly failed to report the connections or the money paid to his wife's company on city disclosure forms.
"Today's charges against Councilman Curren Price are the result of a thorough investigation into allegations of public corruption," District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. "This alleged conduct undermines the integrity of our government and erodes the public's trust in our elected officials. We will continue to work tirelessly to root out corruption at all levels and hold accountable those who betray the public's trust."
This is not the first time that Price's relationship to Richardson has raised eyebrows.
In 2019, a claim by Richardson to have the city of Inglewood repay her $22,000 for medical charges she incurred before 2018, while Price was still legally married to another woman, was rejected. Having served two terms on the Inglewood City Council, Price was eligible for lifetime benefits for himself and his spouse.
The claim adds to the general muddiness around when exactly Price and his current wife, Delbra Richardson, tied the knot.
Court records show Price filed for divorce from his previous wife, Lynn Suzette Price, in 2011, but the matter was not finalized, potentially due to an error, until February 2018, according to the records. The Los Angeles Times questioned the divorce in 2017 and a campaign spokesman said Price was operating under the belief his divorce had been completed.
Days later, Price reopened the case with a new attorney, records show.
Later in 2019, a city spokesperson for the councilman told the Times that Richardson and Price married in 2018. The date was provided in response to a story about Price's votes on decisions involving Richardson's clients.
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What financial interests did Price allegedly have in projects he was voting on?
Because Price and Richardson could not have legally married until his divorce finalized, Richardson's claim could constitute perjury if she filed it knowing she wasn't legally his spouse during the years in question.
If the two marriages did overlap, it could qualify as bigamy, a crime in California. Price has listed Richardson's companies as sources of income for his spouse on economic disclosures since 2013.
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What actions did Price allegedly take to benefit his wife financially?
Tuesday's charges against a City Hall official is not the first.
One corruption scandal focused on the L.A. Department of Water and Power and the City Attorney's Office, following a 2019 FBI raid that targeted DWP and an internal scheme to rig DWP contracts and pay $2.2 million in kickbacks to private attorney Paul O. Paradis. The case involved a vast class action suit against DWP over a 2013 billing debacle in which overcharges were sent to thousands of Angelenos.
Another scandal involved former City Councilmember Mitchell Englander, who resigned his post and was later imprisoned in 2021, convicted of obstructing an FBI investigation into his acceptance of lavish gifts in Las Vegas from a businessman who sought favors from him. Records show he was released on Feb. 3, 2022.
That same year, former City Council President Nury Martinez resigned in October after being caught on tape in a racially charged conversation with two other council members and a county labor official discussing the council's redistricting process.
In the secret recording that surfaced, Martinez, City Councilmember Kevin de Leon and then-Councilmember Gil Cedillo, as well as a powerful labor leader, were caught discussing how the city's redistricting process - which determines how council district boundaries are drawn - might be manipulated to benefit their interests. The conversation was laced with racist comments that further angered many Angelenos.
Protests tied up the City Council for weeks. Even after Martinez resigned, protesters called for de Leon's ouster. A bid to recall de Leon failed to collect enough voter signatures to place a recall question on the ballot.
Two candidates will face off in a run-off election to replace Martinez later this month.
Former Mayor Eric Garcetti was also embroiled in a scandal involving sexual harassment allegations lodged against one of his former top aides which nearly derailed his chances of being appointed U.S. ambassador to India. The issue was over whether he was aware of the alleged behavior, which the former mayor denied knowing about.
Another high-profile scandal in L.A.'s recent history involved disgraced former City Councilmember Jose Huizar.
On March 30, Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted of federal charges for trading votes during his time on the county Board of Supervisors in exchange for benefits provided by USC to his son.
The guilty verdict against Ridley-Thomas on March 30, for actions he took as a powerful county supervisor,, may go down in the history of modern L.A. political scandals as the most stunning legal outcome. He was convicted of federal bribery and conspiracy charges, along with mail and wire fraud, stemming from his time serving on the county Board of Supervisors and the favors he was accused of arranging for his son, from then-USC dean Marilyn Flynn.
Flynn pleaded guilty in September to bribery, admitting she funneled $100,000 from Ridley-Thomas to USC, then to United Ways of California, which passed the money to a nonprofit run by Ridley-Thomas' son.