Feds want 8-month prison sentence for ex-Anaheim mayor convicted of corruption
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In what’s slated to be the first sentence handed down in a years-long FBI political corruption probe in Orange County, federal prosecutors are pushing for former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu to spend eight months in prison for his crimes.
On March 14, prosecutors argued in court documents that Sidhu’s criminal conduct during negotiations to sell Angel Stadium and lucrative land around it to a company controlled by Angels owner Arte Moreno amounted to a “betrayal of the city of Anaheim.”
The FBI investigation first publicly surfaced in May 2022 and halted the $320-million Angel Stadium deal in court before Sidhu’s former Anaheim City Council colleagues terminated it.
According to court documents, Sidhu lied to FBI agents when approached that same month for an impromptu interview that was surreptitiously recorded.
Sidhu falsely claimed that he didn’t provide an Angels consultant with confidential appraisal information, didn’t use his personal email for city business and expected “nothing” in return for the stadium deal.
An Angels consultant planned a rehearsal for City Hall leaders before a council meeting to approve the sale of Angel Stadium, court records show.
During the course of the investigation, former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive Todd Ament secretly recorded Sidhu in conversation saying he expected a $1-million campaign contribution from the Angels after securing the stadium deal.
Sidhu pleaded guilty to four felonies related to lying to FBI agents and destroying an email sent to the team’s consultant with confidential appraisal information related to the stadium.
“Yes, I’m guilty,” Sidhu said in court on Sept. 15, 2023. “I did lie to the FBI.”
Sidhu is due back at the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana on March 28 for sentencing.
Given Sidhu’s lack of a criminal record prior to his conviction on corruption charges, the U.S. Probation Office recommended three years’ probation, a $175,000 fine and 400 hours of community service.
Federal prosecutors mostly agreed with the U.S. Probation Office but did not find a probation sentence “appropriate” in Sidhu’s case.
Prosecutors noted that Sidhu’s criminal conduct did not stem from desperation or addiction, but “to further his own political ambition and to save himself a relatively trivial amount of money.”
They did credit Sidhu for resigning from office, pleading guilty and repaying taxes he illegally evaded stemming from a scheme where he registered a helicopter out of state.
But prosecutors stressed that handing down a prison sentence is important in sending a message to wealthy and powerful individuals like Sidhu while probation achieves the opposite.
“It suggests that defendants who engage in white-collar, public-corruption crimes like this one can simply remove themselves from public life, pay a fine, and face minimal consequences, with incarceration reserved only for blue-collar, less-privileged defendants,” the filing read.
In a separate court filing, Paul Meyer and Craig Wilke, Sidhu’s attorneys, touted the former mayor’s immigrant story, downplayed his destruction of emails and argued for a probation sentence with a smaller $40,000 fine.
After becoming Anaheim mayor in 2018, Sidhu touted himself as an embodiment of the promise of America, having migrated from India with only $6 in his pocket.
It’s a narrative his attorneys embraced in the hopes of leniency.
“Through education and hard work, Mr. Sidhu became an engineer and a successful businessman who is now retired,” the filing read. “He has no criminal history and has dedicated the past 20 years of his life to public service by serving on the boards of several community organizations, the Anaheim City Council for eight years, the Orange County Transportation Authority for four years, and as Anaheim mayor for almost four years.”
Federal prosecutors called Sidhu’s personal story “aggravating, rather than mitigating.”
Harry Sidhu admitted lying to FBI agents and obstruction in connection with his secretly helping the Angels during negotiations with the city over the stadium land.
Sidhu’s attorneys also denied their client engaged in bribery and never asked the Angels for a quid pro quo political contribution to his reelection campaign.
In arguing for a lesser fine and less community service hours, his attorneys claimed that Sidhu destroyed “relevant” but not “essential” emails related to the investigation since Ament’s cooperation with FBI agents provided them his own copies of the mayor’s emails.
“Sidhu admittedly sought to impede and obstruct a federal investigation, but he did not seek to cover up criminal conduct and never committed an act of political corruption,” the filing read.
Ament’s attorneys declined to comment on the claim.
During a secretly recorded meeting with Sidhu, Ament stated that he received a subpoena for an Orange County Grand Jury investigation into the stadium deal. Sidhu said that he deleted emails out of fear the Grand Jury probe would be used against him during his 2022 reelection campaign.
Ahead of sentencing, Sidhu also filed a personal statement with Judge John Holcomb.
“I am deeply ashamed of my conduct and understand that there are consequences for my crimes,” Sidhu wrote. “I have learned hard lessons from this experience, including disgracing my family and destroying my career and reputation.”
The letter marked Sidhu’s lengthiest comments about the scandal since the investigation publicly surfaced.
The sprawling FBI probe has, so far, led to two other convictions, including Ament and former Democratic Party leader Melahat Rafiei. Both have yet to be sentenced.
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