He had thousands of text messages saved. He took a photo of the bribe. He recorded his boss, then-Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, asking for the money in a City Hall bathroom.
George Esparza, the central figure in Huizar’s vast pay-to-play operation, provided extensive evidence to federal prosecutors in an investigation into bribes from downtown real estate developers seeking city support for their projects. He met with prosecutors more than 20 times and gave key testimony in four separate trials, his lawyer said.
Friday, U.S. District. Judge John F. Walter called Esparza’s cooperation “nothing short of extraordinary.” He sentenced Esparza to three years’ probation, even after pointing out that Esparza himself had committed a long list of crimes.
“In my 20 years as a district court judge, I have never seen a defendant provide such extensive and beneficial cooperation to the government,” Walter said.
Esparza, 38, faced the possibility of several years in prison. He initially lied to FBI agents investigating corruption at City Hall and ultimately pleaded guilty in 2020 to a single charge of conspiracy to violate the federal Racketeering Act.
Mr. Esparza served as Huizar’s frontman for years, communicating demands for bribes and other financial benefits from lawmakers using coded language.
Nevertheless, prosecutors recommended that Mr. Esparza receive no prison time, saying he was responsible for the crimes over the past six years. Without his cooperation, Asto said, “the public may never have known the full extent of Mr. Huizar’s corruption.” US attorney. Susan Herr told the judge:
Esparza stood before the judge and apologized to his family, the city of Los Angeles and the Boyle Heights neighborhood where he grew up and still lives. He admitted that he enjoyed a life of luxury thanks to his crimes.
“At that time, I was little Jose Huizar,” he told the judge.
Mr. Huizar pleaded guilty in January to charges of tax evasion and extortion. He reported last month to serve a 13-year sentence at Federal Correctional Facility Lompoc II, a maximum-security prison in Santa Barbara County.
For several years, Ms. Esparza accompanied Mr. Huizar on trips to Las Vegas with Wei Huang, a Chinese real estate developer who was considering developing a 77-story skyscraper in Mr. Huizar’s district. According to a plea agreement Esparza signed in 2020, Esparza and Huizar received luxury hotel rooms, expensive meals, casino chips, prostitutes and other favors from Huang.
As Huizar’s go-between, Esparza acted as an intermediary in another bribery scheme. This involves the developer of a 20-story residential tower planned for the Hill and Olympic in downtown Los Angeles. Its developer, Dae Yong Lee, was sentenced to six years in prison for arranging a $500,000 bribe.
Mr. Esparza also secured financial benefits at his own expense, including at least $48,000 in consulting fees from a businessman who wanted to sell home automation products to a downtown high-rise developer.
Friday’s sentencing is the third in five days against participants in Huizar’s so-called “criminal enterprise.”
On Monday, former lobbyist Molly Goldman was sentenced to three years’ probation and six months of home detention, as well as a $60,000 fine. Goldman pleaded guilty in 2020 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
The next day, real estate consultant George Chan was also sentenced to three years’ probation, along with 12 months of home detention and 150 hours of community service. Chiang has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate federal racketeering law and must also pay a $250,000 fine.
As part of his sentence, Esparza was sentenced to 12 months of home detention and 300 hours of community service. He must pay $130,459 in restitution to the City of Los Angeles.
Mr. Ezparza first joined Huizar’s staff as an intern when he was 19 years old. After college, she returned to Huizar’s office and eventually rose to the position of special assistant, serving as his chauffeur, confidant, and emissary to lobbyists, consultants, and others.
Esparza said in legal filings and Friday’s hearing that he considers Huizal a father figure who was missing from his life. Esparza said Huizal’s own relatives referred to him as Huizal’s “eldest son.” In a cracking voice, he said he had put his real family through “hell.”
In 2018, FBI agents raided his grandparents’ home in Boyle Heights, where he lived. He said his grandfather, who raised him to be a moral man, watched as he was handcuffed.
“I let them down as a brother, as a son, as a grandson,” he said.
Mr. Walter said that after watching Mr. Esparza testify in his four trials, he was convinced that Mr. Esparza had fully embraced the lavish lifestyle that resulted from his corruption. At the same time, he called Esparza’s request for clemency “the most sincere and persuasive” he had ever read.
After the hearing, Esparza said she was “very grateful for this moment” and also heard Walter’s detailed account of the crime.
“It was painful to hear the judge speak honestly to me,” he said. “But the first part of the journey of salvation is to be honest.”
