Mark Ridley-Thomas, a prominent Los Angeles Democrat, was sentenced to 42 months in jail and a $30,000 fine for orchestrating a complex web of corruption designed to secure benefits for his son from the University of Southern California (USC). While the California Democrat’s corrupt scheme shocked the nation, it is similar to the fraud that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has found throughout the federal government.
For context, Ridley-Thomas spent 30 years in LA politics, but in 2017, he used his political influence to secure a highly compensated position and scholarship at USC’s School of Social Work for Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, his son, who was fired after a highly publicized s*xual assault scandal. However, there was more to find, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the elder Ridley-Thomas received a $100,000 kickback from USC in the form of a large donation.
Such was shown when the DOJ issued a press release on the sentencing, revealing Ridley-Thomas’ appalling corruption. The DOJ wrote, “Mark Ridley-Thomas was sentenced today to 42 months in federal prison for a bribery and fraud scheme in which the longtime politician demanded benefits for his son from a university dean in exchange for Ridley-Thomas’ political support for lucrative Los Angeles County business.”
In response, United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer slammed the corrupt Democrat with a harsh sentence and savaged him in the courtroom. The judge said Ridley-Thomas engaged in a “shakedown” and that he used his “[political] support as a bargaining chip to get benefits for his son.'”
Leading the charge against the corrupt Democrat was U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, who wrote, “When elected leaders engage in acts of corruption, our community suffers immense damage. Ridley-Thomas engaged in a corrupt conspiracy with a university dean to steer taxpayer-funded contracts to the school in exchange for benefits for his son.”
Still not done, Estrada continued to berate Ridley-Thom in the original document from the DOJ. He said, “This case, together with my office’s many other prosecutions of politicians, law enforcement officers, and public officials, shows our commitment to root out corruption and hold responsible those who flout the law and abuse their positions of trust. Our community deserves and demands elected leaders who do not place personal benefit over the good of their constituents.”
Watch a clip of Mark Ridley-Thomas reacting to his sentencing:
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Corrupt education schemes like the one that sent Ridley-Thomas to prison are typical of woke universities, and DOGE has been cracking down. In a post made to X on Febreuary 14, 2025, the DOGE said, “In the last 48 hours, the Department of Education terminated 70 DEI training grants totaling $373M. One trained teachers to “engage in ongoing learning and self-reflection to confront their own biases and racism, and develop asset-based anti-racist mindsets.'”
Five days later, in another bombshell announcement, DOGE found another massively corrupt education scheme. It posted, “The Department of Education has terminated 18 grants for $226mm to Comprehensive Centers, which provided consulting services with a large focus on DEI. One Center application stated: “Embedding DEI reviews across all deliverables and materials ensures it is not a one-off task specific activity.” A 2019 study (which itself cost $8mm) was “not able to measure the causal impact of the centers’ work.'”
Featured image from embedded video