When Jose Huizar exited the elevator at the federal courthouse on his way to his sentencing hearing, he was relaxed enough to joke with his lawyers.

The former Los Angeles City Councilman will soon find out how much prison time he will serve after pleading guilty to racketeering and tax evasion last year.

He spotted me walking down the hallway wearing black glasses, a blue suit, and a brown bag on his back. I once wrote a column disparaging him for not only smearing his position, but for shaming Latinos. He could have grimaced, shouted, or simply ignored me.

Instead, an Eastside politician suggested to me: Sardo — a greeting rooted in our rural Mexican roots and reserved for those who command respect.

“How are you doing, brother?'' he said with a smile as we shook hands and headed into court together. I asked him how he felt. He looked as cocky as Alfred E. Newman as he shrugged his shoulders and held out his hand.

Public defenders with youthful looks who looked like they had just gotten out of law school tried to take him away, but he wanted to catch up.

“I was inside you rancho Recently, he said, El Cargadero is a village in the mountains of Jerez, Zacatecas, where my mother was born, next to Huizal's birthplace of Los Morales.

In late October, Huizar traveled again. rancho After U.S. District Judge John F. Walter allowed him to “attend a religious ceremony.” [in Zacatecas] It's important to his Catholic faith. ”

I asked him in Spanish if he had attended the October 24th feast day of St. Raphael the Archangel, the patron saint of El Cargadero. The day was marked by processions and parties that drew thousands of people from the Jerez area and the American diaspora. Huizar laughed again and entered the courtroom without saying anything else.

You might think we're cousins ​​catching up at a family party. In a way, so were we.

His parents knew my parents. My older cousins ​​know his brother. He and his family spent summers picking strawberries in the same Orange County fields as I did. mami and my aunts. From Boyle Heights to Berkeley, from Princeton to UCLA Law, from the LA Unified School Board to City Hall, we followed his rise with pride. At a family party where we discussed who had done good things and who had done bad things, my cousins ​​told their children that they too might become like Huizar.

He was more than just the American Dream.he was there our American dream. He represented the apex of the nearly 500,000 Zacatecas people in Southern California. Tens of thousands of them are Hellesanos, They live primarily in Anaheim, the San Fernando Valley, and the East Side.

When Huizar was arrested in 2020, I not only shook my head in disgust, but also sighed in deep disappointment. Prosecutors say Mr. Huizar monetized his government position over the years, taking more than $1.5 million in cash bribes from developers on downtown projects, gambling tips, luxury hotel stays, political contributions, prostitution services and expensive He claimed to have secured meals and other financial benefits. district.

Meanwhile, our elders shouted conspiracies.

I almost took my father to the sentencing room. rancho. More than 50 people wrote letters of support to Huizar, including his mother, children, childhood friends and people from Jerez. However, there were few, if any, attendees. Huizar will excuse himself only for his own sins.

Walter said after prosecutors argued for a 13-year sentence and Huizar's attorney argued for a nine-year sentence. The judge said Mr Huizar was loved not only by his family but also by voters, and his penniless to riches story was admirable.

But Walter's sympathy quickly turned to anger. He said Huizar had “sold out voters,” that the “extraordinarily pervasive and rampant pattern” was “of his own kind,” that he had “little remorse,” and that he wanted the public to “sell out” public servants. In a monotonous, didactic tone, he accused them of creating a sense of distrust.

Mr. Huizar, 55, frowned and pursed his lips when Mr. Walter excused him. He spoke only briefly to “reiterate” the apology he had submitted to the court the day before.

Walter continued, and I nodded along. Any sympathy I had for Huizar disappeared when Walter said, “It's hard to understand why he decided to give up everything,” despite their similar background.

Our parents bought homes, became U.S. citizens, and raised my generation of children who became teachers, professors, white-collar professionals, or blue-collar entrepreneurs. Some of us are famous – heresanos Of note is cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Chicana novelist Helena Maria Viramontes. Maywood City Councilman Heber Marquez; and actor Jessica Alba, my once-outcast third cousin and descendant of Pomona's civil rights pioneers.

so many heresanos It became a success story without fooling the public. Why couldn't Huizar do it?

Walter gave prosecutors the 13-year prison term they had requested and ordered him to pay restitution of about $444,000 to the city of Los Angeles and about $39,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. He must surrender to federal authorities on April 30th.

Reporters then gathered outside the courtroom. He ignored them all…except me.he to me Sardo Once again, this time he gave a fist pump and flashed a beaming smile just like he had two hours ago.

I asked him again how he felt.

“You know I can't talk, brother,” Huizar replied. “But when the time is right…” He trailed off as people flocked to him on his way to the elevator.

“Did Santo Niño de Atocha hear your prayers?” I replied — a reference to the patron saint of Zacatecas that led to federal agents arresting Huizar at his Boyle Heights home. Hours earlier, Huizar had posted the image on Instagram.

This time his smile was incredible, as if he couldn't believe I was going there.

He got into the elevator with his defense team. Courthouse security pushed my colleague Dakota Smith back into the hall. Reporters and protesters bombarded him with questions and insults.

However, Huizar only listened to what I said.

“What should we do about Los de Jerez?” “What is it about today?” I screamed.

What would you say to people from Jerez? What is your message to your fellow countrymen?

This time Huizar laughed. His smile was so wide that he thought he might ride a horse and swing open doors that were closed to him for the rest of his life.