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Disbarment Takes Effect Wednesday for Former Councilman Huizar
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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JOSÉ HUIZAR |
Former Los Angeles City Council member José Huizar, who on Oct. 7 began serving a 13-year prison sentence following his conviction under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and for income tax evasion, will be disbarred as of Wednesday.
He was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Jan. 19 of last year, pleading guilty pursuant to a plea bargain, and was placed on interim bar suspension the following May 29.
Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero last Sept. 16 signed an order saying that “is summarily disbarred from the practice of law” and that his “name is stricken from the roll of attorneys,” adding that he “must pay monetary sanctions to the State Bar of California Client Security Fund in the amount of $5,000.”
Huizar’s violations included taking bribes—with a value of nearly $2 million—as well as mail and wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, in addition to tax evasion.
He represented Council District 14 from 2005 until his resignation in 2020.
The ex-politico was admitted to the State Bar on June 2, 1998. His law degree is from UCLA.
Born in Mexico on Sept. 10, 1968, Huizar gained U.S. citizenship while in undergraduate school at the University of California, Berkeley.
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