Former Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Heuser, who is awaiting sentencing in a major criminal case, said Thursday that “I lost everything,” and asked the judge for a lenient punishment.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, Mr. Huizar apologized to his family, his former constituents and the city, saying he would accept the enormous cost of losing his honor and ability to provide for his family and damaging his children's future. He said he paid. and their mental health.

“My entire life has been turned upside down and I regret walking away from the values ​​that brought me to public service in the first place,” he wrote. “I have caused unintended collateral damage to the people and organizations I care about.”

The five-page letter was filed in court the day before Huizar was to be sentenced in a federal case that focuses on various types of bribes offered by real estate developers pursuing projects in Huizar's downtown area. Ta. In a partially redacted letter, Huizar said his own weaknesses had changed his life forever.

“There was something shiny dangling in front of me and I couldn't resist the temptation,” wrote Huizar, who pleaded guilty last year to racketeering and tax evasion charges. “The money, the fancy dinners, the fancy flights. It was something to take, and I wasn't strong enough to say no.”

Huizar asked for a sentence of no more than nine years in prison. Federal prosecutors are seeking 13 years in prison, arguing that a strong sentence will deter future public corruption.

Prosecutors say Mr. Huizar over the years took over $1.5 million in cash bribes, gambling tips, luxury hotel stays, political contributions, prostitution services, expensive meals and other financial benefits from developers pursuing projects in his district. It is said that he secured more than US dollars and monetized his government position.

“If anyone dared refuse his requests to pay bribes, he punished them and their city projects, threatening developers with indefinite project delays and financial jeopardy.” is writing.

The U.S. Department of Justice also wants Huizar, who served on the city council from 2005 to 2020, to pay more than $1 million in restitution to the city of Los Angeles.

Friday's ruling ends a wide-ranging corruption investigation that began in 2015, when FBI agents received information about Mr. Huizar's gambling activities inside an upscale casino in Las Vegas. Years later, he and a number of City Hall officials, most of whom were involved in approving high-rise residential buildings and high-rise hotels, were arrested and eventually convicted on various charges.

City Councilman Mitchell Englander pleaded guilty in 2020 to providing false information to FBI agents after they questioned him about a trip to Las Vegas in 2017, during which he was arrested in a casino bathroom. I received the cash in an envelope. George Esparza, the former Huizar aide who transported the crates of liquor filled with cash, is awaiting sentencing on racketeering charges.

Developers, former lobbyists, land-use consultants, China-based real estate companies and even Mr. Huizar's brother, Salvador Huizar, have either pleaded guilty or been found guilty by a jury.

Former Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan's case will continue to include charges of bribery, extortion and wire fraud. The case ended in a mistrial last year when Chan's lawyer suffered an emergency and was unable to continue defending him in court.

One of the people involved in the corruption investigation may never be brought before a jury. Wei Huang, a billionaire Chinese developer who helped Huizar secure $600,000 in payments to a former aide whom he accused of sexual harassment, is considered a fugitive and on the run, according to the Justice Department. That's what it means.

Mr. Huizar served as chairman of the City Council's Planning and Land Use Control Committee for many years, serving as a key gatekeeper for large-scale development projects throughout the city.

in his plea bargainfiled last year, Huizar admitted to participating in a criminal enterprise involving lobbyists, real estate consultants and others involved in the pay-to-play scheme.

According to the plea agreement, Mr. Huizar was charged with obtaining personal enrichment and in other cases from downtown developers seeking city approvals for projects or other government actions. He collected campaign donations and repeatedly extracted bribes.

One of the proposed projects, which was later abandoned, was a 77-story hotel tower planned for Figueroa Street. The other was a 20-story residential building proposed for Olympic Boulevard. The third, his 35-story tower in the Arts District, is currently under construction. A fourth was planned across the street from the LA Live entertainment complex.

Huizar, 55, was born in a rural Mexican village several years before his family immigrated to the United States. His family said his parents worked long hours at menial jobs while raising children. He excelled academically and graduated from a series of prestigious universities: the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, and finally the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

In 2001, Huizar was elected to the board of directors of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Four years later, he joined the Boyle Council, where he represents areas such as the Heights, El Sereno, and Eagle Rock. He handily defeated former county Supervisor Gloria Molina, a veteran East Side politician, in 2015, winning his third and final term.

In asking for a lenient punishment, Wizard's lawyers pointed out that he is a first-time offender and the father of a school-age child.

They noted that Mr. Wizard's efforts helped fuel what they called the “DTLA renaissance,” a pre-pandemic real estate boom that brought foreign investment and glittering towers downtown. They argued that Huizar's actions undermined public trust but were not “deliberately evil.”

Mr. Huizar's friends and relatives are also trying to highlight his good deeds.

In a letter to the judge, former school board President Monica Garcia called Huizar a “trailblazer” board member who played a central role in pushing for the construction of numerous new campuses. Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, said in a separate article that Mr. Huizar had shown humility and remorse.

“Clearly, he's more than the worst thing he's ever done,” Boyle wrote.

In yet another letter, Mr. Huizar's elderly mother, Isidora Huizar, implored the judge to show mercy, saying her son regularly visits the dentist, cardiologist, optometrist, prescriptions and other medical needs. He said he was helping her.

“I don't want to imagine life without him,” she wrote. “You judges, don’t take him away from me, you don’t understand how much I suffer without him.”

In a separate court filing, Huizar's lawyers said their client was dedicated to public service “at great sacrifice to himself and his family.” While on the council, Huizar developed personal relationships with many people, which led to “exchanges of benefits and favors.”

“The lines could easily and did become blurred,” the lawyers wrote. “In fact, this was not only true of Mr. Huizar, but was, and almost certainly continues to be, true of virtually every elected official in Los Angeles and beyond.”

The allegations sparked strong opposition from Council President Paul Krekorian, who voted in favor of suspending Huizar on the day of Huizar's arrest in June 2020. Krekorian said in an interview Thursday that the allegations are “absolute nonsense.”

“It's actually shameful to try to equate these crimes with what is considered normal at City Hall,” Krekorian said. “This is not normal. His actions were a disgrace to the city, a betrayal of his constituents, and a betrayal of all of us, his former colleagues. So to suggest this is business as usual is simply It’s nonsense.”

Federal prosecutors said in a written filing that Huizar violated his oath of office and his duty to voters “multiple times.”

Huizar put “his own desire for money and power ahead of the rights and interests of the people he was elected to serve,” the lawsuit said.