A Los Angeles City Councilman, Curren Price, has been charged with corruption following allegations of embezzling $800,000. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed two new charges this week against Price for embezzlement of public funds and awarding contracts that benefited him financially.
Price had previously faced five embezzlement charges in 2023 and pleaded not guilty at that time. According to the District Attorney’s office, “Embezzling public funds and awarding contracts for your own financial gain is the antithesis of public service,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. “Our communities expect and deserve better from their public officials. I thank our investigative team and prosecutors in the Public Integrity Division for diligently pursuing every lead and holding elected officials accountable. Self-dealing and pay-to-play politics will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County.”
The investigation revealed that Del Richardson & Associates, a company owned by Price’s wife, Delbra Pettice Richardson, received over $800,000 from city agencies while Price voted to award those agencies multimillion-dollar contracts. Specifically, between October 2019 and June 2020, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles paid approximately $609,600 to Del Richardson & Associates as Price supported grants totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for the agency. During another period between October 2020 and October 2021, LA Metro paid about $219,500 to the same company while Price supported a motion granting $30 million to LA Metro.
Staff members reportedly flagged potential conflicts before these votes took place.
Curren De Mille Price Jr., who has represented Los Angeles’ Ninth District since 2013, is legally prohibited from having any financial interest in projects considered by the City Council. In June 2023 (case BA515782), he was charged with five felony counts of embezzlement of government funds, three felony counts of perjury, and two felony counts of conflict of interest related to payments made between 2019 and 2021.
Additional allegations include accusations that Price embezzled around $33,800 in city funds from 2013-2017 to pay medical benefits for Richardson by falsely claiming she was his wife while still married to someone else.
After subpoenas produced more evidence—including an appendix with nearly forty exhibits detailing payments and voting records—prosecutors amended their complaint on August 11 with two further counts of conflict of interest.
It is also alleged that Price used his position to award city lease agreements and over $2 million in federal COVID-19 grants intended for homelessness efforts to Home at Last—a nonprofit which was a tenant at Urban Healthcare Project when he served as CEO there.
Price pleaded not guilty on December 15, 2023; he was released on his own recognizance pending further legal proceedings.
