Free Republic

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley has opened an inquiry into the lobbying work of former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre and whether he violated city laws by failing to disclose those activities, several sources said. Cooley's Public Integrity Division, joined by investigators with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, also have been seeking information about any lobbying work by former city commissioner Leland Wong, who was sentenced last month to five years in prison. Both Alatorre and Wong have been influential figures in city politics and, in separate cases, have faced lengthy corruption probes. Alatorre pleaded guilty...

A judge on Friday sentenced onetime Los Angeles city commissioner Leland Wong to five years in state prison, bringing an end to Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's "pay to play" investigation of the administration of former Mayor James K. Hahn. Wong, the son of Chinese immigrants who had served in the administrations of three Los Angeles mayors, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs as his friends and family watched. The San Marino resident was found guilty in July on 14 felony counts, including bribery, conflict of interest, perjury and embezzlement. Prosecutors accused Wong of receiving monthly payments of $5,000,...

Capping the highest-profile case to come out of City Hall "pay-to-play" corruption investigations in the administration of former Mayor James Hahn, former commissioner Leland Wong was convicted Thursday of more than a dozen felony charges, including bribery, in connection with taking $100,000 from a company doing business with the city. Wong, 51, was found guilty of 14 felony charges, including one count of bribery, two counts of conflict of interest, one count of perjury, seven counts of theft by embezzlement and three counts of filing false tax returns. But the jury also acquitted Wong on six other counts of theft...

Former Los Angeles city commissioner Leland Wong, scheduled to be arraigned today on bribery and conflict-of-interest charges, was charged Thursday with a new felony. Wong, a private consultant who was once an airport commissioner, has been charged with conflict of interest in connection with allegedly voting on a concession contract at Los Angeles International Airport, officials said. His vote as a commissioner came at the same time he also was seeking a business deal with the concession owner, officials said. Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman said the new charges came out of a continuing investigation into Wong's activities while he...

In the highest-reaching allegations so far in the City Hall "pay-to-play" scandal, a former deputy mayor in the Hahn administration said he indulged in sexual services paid for by a city commissioner who prosecutors said was seeking a contract for a client, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday. The salacious revelations are among the most direct allegations in the nearly three-year investigation of contracting practices during the administration of former Mayor James Hahn. According to some 1,200 pages of transcripts released Tuesday, former Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards told a grand jury that Leland Wong, then a member of the powerful...

In a second case growing out of the City Hall "pay-to-play" corruption scandal, a former Hahn administration commissioner faced charges Wednesday of bribery, conflict of interest, perjury and embezzlement. The most significant of 20 counts against Leland Wong, 49, of San Marino centers on charges that he got $100,000 in 2002 from an executive of the Taiwanese firm Evergreen Shipping. Wong served on the Airport Commission at the time and voted on a contract for the firm. "The indictment ... is a significant step in rooting out corrupt public officials and exposing corruption within public institutions," District Attorney Steve Cooley...