In yet another example of blue state corruption, Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price is facing new charges, adding to felony counts of embezzlement, perjury, and conflict of interest dating from 2023. According to prosecutors, Price’s wife’s company, Del Richardson & Associates, was awarded $800,000 from the city’s housing authority and LA Metro, based on votes from the disgraced councilmember.
For context, despite warnings from whistleblowers pointing to the apparent conflict of interest, Price was able to approve major grants for these agencies. Additionally, officials allege that the corrupt city official directed over $2 million in COVID-19 grants to a nonprofit linked to his Urban Healthcare Project. If convicted on all counts, Price faces an 11-year prison sentence.
In any case, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman issued a confident statement blasting the corrupt official. He stated, “Embezzling public funds and awarding contracts for your own financial gain is the antithesis of public service.”
Continuing his statement, he added, “Our communities expect and deserve better from their public officials. I thank our investigative team and prosecutors in the Public Integrity Division for diligently pursuing every lead and holding elected officials accountable. Self-dealing and pay-to-play politics will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County.”
Adding additional context, the document, which the district attorney’s office published, offered a further insight into the fierce round of charges against Curren De Mille Price Jr. The statement read, “Price (dob 12/16/50) was charged on June 13, 2023, in case BA515782 with five felony counts of embezzlement of government funds, three felony counts of perjury and two felony counts of conflict of interest.”
Building on this point, the allegations read, “The 10 felony counts allege that Del Richardson & Associates, a company owned solely by Price’s wife, Delbra Pettice Richardson, received payments totaling more than $150,000 between 2019 and 2021 from developers before he voted to approve projects.”
Describing the new charges, the statement explained how prosecutors discovered additional information. The statement revealed, “Subpoenas in the case yielded additional evidence of public corruption. On Aug. 11, prosecutors filed an amended complaint alleging two additional counts of conflict of interest. The complaint includes an appendix of 39 exhibits of evidence of the payments and Price’s voting history.”
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Still not done, the district attorney stated, “Between Oct. 22, 2019, and June 30, 2020, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles allegedly paid Del Richardson & Associates approximately $609,600. During this time, Price voted to support a $35 million federal grant and a state grant application for $252 million for the agency.”
Adding more weight to the allegations, the document explained how Price used his votes to benefit his wife. The press release added, “Between Oct. 27, 2020, and Oct. 20, 2021, LA Metro paid Del Richardson & Associates approximately $219,500. During this time, Price brought and voted in favor of a motion to award $30 million to LA Metro. Price’s staff had flagged the conflict of interest prior to the votes.”
Concluding, the document provided more damning evidence against the beleaguered city politician. The document read, “It is further alleged that Price took advantage of his position in city government to award city lease agreements and over $2 million in federal COVID-19 grants to the nonprofit Home at Last. Home at Last was a paying tenant of the Urban Healthcare Project at the time of the votes. Price served as CEO of Urban Healthcare Project during the time of these votes. These funds were intended for homelessness efforts.”