Greater than 1,000 pages of confidential paperwork from a federal legal investigation into the Los Angeles metropolis lawyer’s workplace and the Division of Water and Energy might be unsealed, a federal choose signaled Friday.
The Instances and Client Watchdog had requested the paperwork to raised perceive the federal government’s legal case and whether or not former Metropolis Atty. Mike Feuer bore any culpability for a scandal involving a sham lawsuit and an extortion plot. Feuer has lengthy denied wrongdoing.
In a tentative ruling, U.S. District Decide Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. mentioned the paperwork, which consist primarily of dozens of search warrants filed throughout the federal government’s investigation, might be unsealed, with private information redacted.
The names of public officers, together with people who’re “wrongdoers,” is not going to be redacted, Blumenfeld mentioned at a listening to Friday — a blow to prosecutors who had sought to maintain the officers’ names from the general public.
The Instances and Client Watchdog are anticipated to work with the U.S. lawyer’s workplace to prepared the paperwork for launch within the coming weeks.
A lot of Friday’s listening to centered on Feuer and whether or not an FBI agent’s alleged assertions that Feuer lied to a grand jury and lied to the FBI needs to be redacted.
The FBI agent’s purported feedback, made in an affidavit for a search warrant, had been revealed in court docket by a defendant, Paul Paradis, at his sentencing in November.
Paradis, a former lawyer turned cooperating witness for the federal authorities, pleaded responsible to accepting an almost $2.2 million kickback from one other lawyer engaged on the DWP case and was sentenced to 33 months in jail.
Paradis had ingratiated himself at Metropolis Corridor, befriending prime metropolis officers. An outdoor lawyer from New York, he was retained by Feuer’s workplace to assist with litigation associated to the DWP, then went on to safe separate contracts on the DWP.
Later, he secretly recorded high-ranking metropolis officers and was current when armed brokers raided the house of DWP normal supervisor David Wright, who’s serving a six-year sentence after conspiring to present Paradis a profitable contract.
Jerry Flanagan, an lawyer for Client Watchdog and The Instances, advised Blumenfeld that the FBI agent’s feedback amounted to an “opinion” that wasn’t topic to federal guidelines that require grand jury data to be saved confidential. Flanagan additionally argued that the “cat is out of the bag” as a result of Paradis had publicly revealed the alleged feedback.
Blumenfeld appeared involved about defending the secrecy of the grand jury course of and mentioned he would rule in a while the difficulty.
Feuer has mentioned he had no information of any crimes. In a 2022 letter, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace advised Feuer that he wasn’t a goal of their legal investigation.
When requested by The Instances final November in regards to the FBI agent‘s alleged statements, Feuer pointed to the 2022 letter.
Feuer additionally advised The Instances final yr that he gave the U.S. lawyer’s workplace his telephone in 2020, however investigators didn’t search his house or workplace.
A former state assemblymember and L.A. Metropolis Council member, Feuer ran for L.A. mayor in 2022 however dropped out shortly earlier than the first. Final month, he completed fourth within the main for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Adam B. Schiff.
The 1,400 pages of search warrants and different paperwork requested by The Instances and Client Watchdog had been issued between 2019 and 2021.
Courtroom filings by prosecutors within the legal case clarify that some people, together with metropolis officers who stay nameless within the filings, took half in or had been conscious of varied schemes.
Solely 4 folks had been finally charged, and prosecutors mentioned that their case concluded final yr.
The legal prosecution centered on a 2015 class-action lawsuit introduced by DWP clients over large errors brought on by a brand new billing system on the utility.
The lawsuit was covertly written by Paradis, then working for Feuer’s workplace, who handed the swimsuit to an out of doors lawyer to file towards town.
The objective, in accordance with prosecutors, was to settle all of the claims by varied DWP clients on phrases advantageous to town.
Prosecutors additionally uncovered different unethical and unlawful schemes, together with a bootleg cost involving town lawyer’s workplace.
Blumenfeld mentioned at Friday’s listening to that he anticipated the identify of 1 particular person, Julissa Salgueiro, to stay unredacted within the search warrants and different paperwork.
“Ms. Salgueiro is a quintessential wrongdoer,” Blumenfeld mentioned, describing why her identify needs to be unredacted.
Prosecutors have by no means named or charged Salgueiro, however their court docket filings check with a former worker of a Beverly Hills legislation agency who threatened to disclose town’s collusive lawsuit over the DWP billing errors.
The worker had “stolen or improperly retained” paperwork displaying the collusive lawsuit and demanded cash for his or her return, prosecutors mentioned in court docket paperwork.
Thomas Peters, a prime aide to Feuer, was charged with aiding and abetting extortion after being ordered by unnamed metropolis workers to care for the worker’s threats, in accordance with prosecutors. Prosecutors by no means charged some other senior workers members from town lawyer’s workplace.
After pleading responsible, Peters was sentenced to 9 months house detention and ordered to pay a $50,000 tremendous.
Salgueiro’s lawyer, William Pitman, advised The Instances on Friday that he “respectfully disagrees with Decide Blumenfeld’s opinion.” His shopper has by no means been charged, indicted and has no legal historical past, he mentioned.
“With regard to the unsealing movement, Ms. Salguiero was by no means notified [of the case],” mentioned Pitman.
