Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price’s arraignment on multiple charges related to development corruption was delayed until the end of August.
In court appearances this week, the judge allowed Price to remain free until his new Aug. 18 court date, but granted prosecutors’ request to fingerprint the lawmaker, the Los Angeles Times reported. reported Thursday. The judge also ordered Price to declare any conflicts of interest to the city council and recuse himself from those votes.
Now it might seem a little late: Price, 72, who has been active in South Los Angeles politics for decades, was indicted in June by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on 10 criminal counts, including five major theft. Corruption charges and two conflict of interest charges.
Several of the charges relate to real estate corruption: Between 2019 and 2021, Price’s wife, who runs a consulting firm, allegedly received more than $150,000 in payments from developers whose projects were pending consideration by the City Council. Price then voted to approve several of the projects.
The councilor maintained his innocence but immediately resigned from the city council committee.
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“The last thing I want is to distract people as I go through the justice system to defend my reputation against the baseless allegations made against me,” he wrote after the charges were announced.
The corruption allegations are the latest in a string of scandals that have rocked the Los Angeles City Council in recent years.
— Trevor Bach
