LA City Councilman Curren Price Charged With 10 Criminal Counts By LA County DA

Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price was charged with 10 criminal counts, including embezzlement and perjury, on Tuesday, putting the political future of one of LA’s longest-serving Councilmembers in jeopardy.

Price, who was an Assemblyman from 2006 to 2009 and a state Senator from 2009 to 2013, was elected as a LA City Councilman in 2013. Since being sworn in, Price has gone through numerous scandals, including allegations of bigamy in 2017 due to an unusual divorce situation, being accused of favoring his wife’s consulting firm for city matters in 2019, as well as many other smaller matters.

However, on Tuesday, Price’s most serious charges to date were brought by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. According to LA County DA George Gascon, Price was charged with five counts of embezzlement of government funds, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest. The charges were over Price’s wife collecting around $150,000 in payments between 2019 and 2021 from developers before Price was able to vote on approval for their projects, with the money then not being recorded on government disclosure forms. In addition, city funds amounting to $34,000 also went to medical bills for his then soon-to-be wife Del Richardson while Price was still married to another woman.

In a statement, Gascon said that “Price was charged for having a financial interest in projects that he voted on as a council member, and having the city pay nearly $34,000 in medical benefits for his now-wife while he was still married to another woman. Between 2019 and 2021, Price’s wife allegedly received payments totaling more than $150,000 from developers before Price voted to approve projects. He also is accused of failing to list the money his wife received on government disclosure forms. This alleged conduct undermines the integrity of our government and erodes the public’s trust in our elected officials.”

While Price has said said that these charges are unwarranted, he nonetheless removed himself from committee assignments and other leadership roles on Tuesday, letting Council President Paul Krekorian know in a letter.

“The last thing I want to do is be a distraction to the people’s business,” wrote Price on Tuesday before leaving the City Hall without further comment.

10 criminal counts for Price

While the charges did not come to a surprise for many due to Price’s many past scandals, experts noted that Price could resign soon, especially if he is found guilty in court.

“For the last several years, the LA City Council has been in constant turmoil,” Los Angeles law researcher Jill Rodriguez told the Globe Tuesday. “Let’s see. Mark Ridley-Thomas was found guilty in the USC corruption case in March, and he’s out of the Council now. Nury Martinez resigned and Gil Cedillo left office in disgrace due to the racist tape scandal last year. And Kevin de Leon is still just barely hanging on from that one due to his years of goodwill in the Latino community. The scandal pretty much squandered that and has pretty much ensured that he’ll never get higher office again. Oh, and who can forget Mitch Englander and Jose Huizar being found guilty from that FBI probe.”

“Price is just the latest to be hammered down. I mean, this is happening so often that it is starting to make DA George Gascon seem pretty reasonable in taking down some of these people, and your City Council has to be in a pretty sorry state for that to be possible.”

“Price is already out from many top spots in the Council. He definitely won’t make it past 2026 when his term is up, but with all of this mounting on him, it’s likely we’ll see him at least pull back more from duties, if not resign completely. De Leon only managed to stay in place because of left over popularity and not having any legal charges go against him in the racist recording scandal. Price doesn’t really have that. We have to remember innocent until proven guilty of course. Let’s remember due process. But it isn’t looking too good for him, and we may have yet another open spot on the Council soon.”

More on the Price charges is expected to be released soon.