The embattled politician is charged with felony public corruption charges including embezzlement of public funds, perjury and financial conflicts of interest and has pleaded not guilty
Sitting City Councilmember Curren Price has been ordered by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to stand trial on 12 felony public corruption charges, including embezzlement of public funds, perjury and financial conflicts of interest, prosecutors said Monday.
Price is accused of failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his current wife, Del Richardson Price, received via her consulting firm from developers and city agencies that had business before the city. He also allegedly used roughly $33,800 in city funds to cover medical benefits for Price between 2013 and 2017 while he was still legally married to another woman, Lynn Suzette Green, who does not have a prominent public profile.
This is the second time this year Price has been ordered to stand trial on 12 felony charges connected to his alleged corruption.
“Just as L.A. Councilmember Curren Price cannot wall himself off from his ethical and legal obligations, he cannot wall himself off from the fact that he is going to face trial,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “Price’s latest motion to dismiss rehashes the same meritless arguments he has made for years to avoid accountability. The judge rejected those arguments and found that the Public Integrity Division presented ample evidence to hold Price to answer for 12 public corruption felonies. We look forward to setting a trial date and proving these charges beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury.”
The Los Angeles City Council is the highest paid in the nation, yet continues to be riddled with corruption. Price made more than $270,000 last year.
LA City Councilors are the highest paid in the nation Credit: Graphic by Lisa Lewis
A slew of scandals have rocked L.A.’s City Hall in recent years.
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In March 2020, former District 12 Councilmember Mitch Englander was hit with a federal indictment saying he accepted $10,000 in cash, upscale Vegas trips and the services of an escort in a pay-to-play scheme while in City Hall. He was hit with a 14-month sentence.
In June 2020, District 14 Councilman José Huizar was also charged in that case. Federal prosecutors asserted that the duo had helmed a criminal operation so brazen the feds labeled it the “CD-14 Enterprise.” Huizar, whose own brother was slated to testify against him at trial, pleaded guilty in January 2023. In 2024, a disgusted federal judge sentenced him to 13 years behind bars, saying that his crimes had “the real potential to destroy the delicate fabric of our democracy” and cause the public “to disengage in the democratic process” and “give up all hope of participating” with the government.
In 2023, District 10 Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas was convicted on seven federal felony bribery and fraud charges. Prosecutors say Ridley-Thomas demanded that the former dean of the USC Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Marilyn Flynn, provide his son with admission to a master’s program, a full-tuition scholarship and a paid professorship — a charge he staunchly denies as he continues to fight his conviction with an appeal.
Price was charged last spring in a state corruption case and has maintained his innocence while retaining his City Council seat, which he will term out of in November. He is expected back in court on Oct. 16 for a pretrial hearing where a date is expected to be set for his trial.