Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Councilor Curren Price will be arraigned on the criminal charges on August 28 of theft for embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest.
On Thursday, Price, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, made his first court appearance. on the charges against him for allegedly voting on projects involving developers connected to his wife’s consulting firm and failing to report on the connections.
High Court Judge Kimberley Baker Guillemet gave his authorization for Price, 72, to remain free on his own recognizance.
The magistrate granted the request of the assistant district attorney Casey Higgins to take the fingerprints of the councilman and to notify any conflict of interest in any contract or agreement with the Municipal Council and to abstain from voting in such cases.
The criminal complaint says Price misappropriated resources between 2013 and 2017 by causing the city to cover about $33,800 in medical premiums. for Del Richardson, with whom he claimed to be roasted, although at the time he was still together with his first wife, Lynn Suzette Price.
“We look forward to engaging with the district attorney in the coming weeks and are grateful that the court has given us time to do so. I want to thank my constituents and the entire city of Los Angeles for the tremendous amount of support I have received and I look forward to continuing to serve people’s issues,” Price said after his court appearance.
The councilman added that the charges filed by the district attorney’s office are completely unjustified and that the facts will prove him right.
Photo: Getty Images
Since 2013, Price has represented District 9, which includes most of South Los Angeles and Exposition Park.
On June 13, Price was charged with five counts of grand theft for embezzlement, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interestaccording to the criminal complaint.
That day, Price sent a letter to City Council President Paul Krekorian announcing his decision to resign as interim council president and that he gave up all his assignments in the committees. However, he did not relinquish his seat.
Krekorian filed a motion to suspend Price a day after the criminal case was filed, but the City Council’s Committee on Rules, Elections, and Intergovernmental Relations later voted to defer a recommendation on price’s possible suspension until its May 25 meeting. August.
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