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Ex-Anaheim mayor to plead guilty to federal corruption charges By City News Service
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Law enforcement agencies create joint task force on smash-and-grabs; Glendale police ID suspects, arrest 1 By City News Service
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the Angels. Separately, Sidhu also admits lying to the Federal Aviation Administration about his purchase and registration of a helicopter, which he bought while listing an Arizona home address despite living in Anaheim, amounting to tax fraud by avoiding payment of nearly $16,000 in California sales taxes, prosecutors said. Sidhu is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Santa Ana later this month. A date has not been set for him to enter his plea. Prosecutors said he faces up to 10 years in prison for obstruction of justice, 20 years for wire fraud and five years each for the two false statements charges. In a statement, Sidhu’s attorney Paul Meyer said,
aw enforcement agencies across Los Angeles County have partnered to establish a task force to investigate, apprehend and prosecute suspects who have committed retail theft as businesses grapple with an uptick of smash-and-grabs in recent weeks. Glendale police on Thursday identified two suspects and arrested one allegedly involved in the recent flashmob raid on the Yves Saint Laurent store at the Americana retail complex. In a press conference Thursday, Mayor Karen Bass announced the Organized Retail Crimes Task Force that will include detectives and investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, Glendale Police Department, Burbank Police Department, Beverly Hills Police Department, Santa Monica Police Department, U.S. Marshals Apprehension Task Force and Federal Bureau of Investigation Task Force. Prosecutors from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and the California Attorney General’s office will join the task force as well to ensure suspects are prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law,” according to Bass. Bass emphasized that if “someone commits a crime, we’ll catch you.” The Southland has been subject to an increasing number of thefts by large groups of suspects targeting retail locations. The suspects often target specific malls with high-end merchandise, according to a statement from the LAPD. Suspects grab a large quantity of merchandise often using tools to break glass display cases and cut security cords. According to a statement from LAPD, each incident has resulted in losses to retailers totaling several hundred thousand dollars. “Each of these acts takes away from our peace of mind or our sense of our security when we want to go out and do shopping in retail communities,” LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow said during the press conference in City Hall. “The Los Angeles Police Department will not tolerate these acts. We will not stand by idly while these acts continue.” Gucci store in Costa Mesa robbed by group of thieves Authorities Thursday were looking for the suspects involved in a smash-and-grab robbery of the Gucci store in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. The crime occurred about 7:20 p.m. Wednesday at the mall in the 3300 block of Bristol Street, said Costa Mesa Police Department Sgt. Jose Morales. According to Morales, a group of about five to 10 thieves wearing hoodies and masks entered the store while it was open for business and left with a number of handbags, with the loss estimated at more than $100,000. The incident was the latest in a string of flash mob robberies at retail stores, including at a Nordstrom at Westfield Topanga Mall and an Yves Saint Laurent store at the Americana at Brand in Glendale.
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Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu. | Photo courtesy of Harry Sidhu/LinkedIn
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ormer Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of obstruction of justice, wire fraud and lying to federal investigators stemming in part from his actions during a city effort to sell Angel Stadium, according to court documents filed Wednesday. “While serving as Anaheim’s mayor, Mr. Sidhu took a series of actions that compromised the city’s negotiating position by providing confidential information and secretly working to influence the city’s decision-making process — all of which had a detrimental effect on the city and its residents,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally said in a statement. “Public confidence in the integrity of public officials is critical to our society. This office will continue to root out public officials who compromise their integrity.”
Prosecutors allege in the court papers that during the city’s 2020 negotiations to sell the stadium to the Angels, Sidhu provided “confidential inside information belonging to the city — including confidential negotiation information” to an Angels consultant and Todd Ament, then-Anaheim Chamber of Commerce co-president. Prosecutors said Sidhu was later caught on tape saying he expected a $1 million campaign contribution from the Angels in exchange for the information he provided. Sidhu later “knowingly destroyed multiple email messages and documents related to this conduct,” according to the plea agreement, in an effort “to impede and obstruct the FBI’s investigation of public corruption” involving the proposed stadium sale. According to prosecutors, one of the emails allegedly
destroyed by Sidhu detailed plans for “mock City Council meetings” that were being planned to help other council members and Angels officials prepare for the actual meeting at which the stadium sale would be discussed. The plea agreement includes what was an apparent agenda for one of those mock meetings, in which participants would “run through a mock council session straight through one time at the start to identify pitfalls and areas of vulnerability.” The session would also include Angels officials “to help develop ‘zingers,’ responses and other points to improve performance,” according to the court papers. According to prosecutors, Sidhu also admits in the court papers that he lied about the sale negotiations to FBI investigators, telling them he did not expect to receive any campaign contributions from