Curren Price, a member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 9th district, was arrested on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California, for various corruption charges.
This makes him the most recent local official to be accused of such crimes.
As reported by ABC 7:
Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price was charged Tuesday with multiple counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest, according to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.
Price faces five counts of embezzlement of government funds, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to a statement from the DA.
In a letter to Council President Paul Krekorian late Tuesday afternoon, Price announced his decision to step down as council president pro tem, and surrendering all of his committee assignments. However, he did not state he was resigning from the council.
The Los Angeles Times provided further detail:
Price is accused of having a financial interest in development projects that he voted on, and receiving tens of thousands of dollars in medical benefits from the city for his now wife while he was still married to another woman, according to a statement issued by the district attorney’s office.
Until Tuesday evening, the veteran politician had a number of plum committee assignments. He chaired the economic and community development committee and served as vice chair of the powerful budget, finance and innovation committee.
He was also on the civil rights, equity, immigration, aging and disability committee, the personnel, audits and hiring committee, and the rules, elections and intergovernmental relations committee.
Price also chaired the ad hoc committee on the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games, which convened just after the charges were filed Tuesday afternoon with Price notably absent from the room.
Price’s arrest comes about two months after the conviction of Mark Ridley-Thomas, another Democrat on the city council, on federal corruption charges.
The city has been shaken by a series of corruption scandals, as prosecutors have encountered graft and self-dealing as an endemic part of doing business with the city.
Price’s district includes a number of key landmarks in the city’s center, along with a corridor to the south of downtown Los Angeles.
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