Federal prosecutors are requesting that the co-defendant of longtime Los Angeles politician Mark Ridley-Thomas, an 84-year-old former dean of USC’s school of social work who confessed to bribing the ex-city councilman, be sentenced to probation and home confinement, according to court documents obtained on Tuesday.
In accordance with Marilyn Flynn’s plea agreement, the government is not seeking prison time for the former dean, who admitted to participating in a bribery scheme under Ridley-Thomas’ direction while he was a Los Angeles County supervisor.
Instead, the U.S. Attorney’s Office proposes that Flynn receive three years of probation, including 18 months of home confinement, and a $150,000 fine.
Defense attorneys believe that a two-year probation period without home confinement or monitoring is sufficient.
“However, if the Court determines that some form of monitoring is warranted, the defense believes that the recommendation from U.S. Probation — a two-year probation period with six months of GPS monitoring and no schedule restrictions — is an appropriate sentence given Dr. Flynn’s age and the characteristics of the offense,” states the defendant’s sentencing memorandum.
The defense also disagrees with the government’s recommendation of a $150,000 fine, arguing that $100,000 is more than enough “considering the fact that Dr. Flynn did not personally benefit and USC did not suffer a monetary loss.”
The final decision lies with U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who has set July 24 for Flynn’s sentencing hearing.
Flynn pleaded guilty in September to one count of bribery, admitting that she agreed to use USC as a conduit for a $100,000 payment from Ridley-Thomas’ campaign account to the social work school. As part of their agreement, Flynn then arranged for USC to make a nearly simultaneous $100,000 payment to the United Ways of California for the benefit of the Policy, Research & Practice Initiative, a new nonprofit led by Ridley-Thomas’ son, who had abruptly resigned from his elected position in the California State Assembly.
To execute the scheme, Flynn and Ridley-Thomas concealed from USC that Ridley-Thomas had instructed the payment to be made to support USC’s simultaneous payment to United Ways and PRPI, states Flynn’s plea agreement.
Immediately after Flynn informed Ridley-Thomas that the USC payment to United Ways and PRPI had been “cleared,” Ridley-Thomas arranged a meeting on May 10, 2018, between Flynn and a high-level county official to move forward with the county’s approval of the former dean’s desired expansion of an online mental health services contract, which would have improved her school’s financial situation.
Flynn’s attorneys argue that the former dean’s actions were driven by a desire to help her school, the graduate students in the social work program, and those in need of greater access to mental health services. They acknowledge her loss of moral compass along the way.
In advocating for probation without home confinement, Flynn’s counsel asserts that the “public shame and humiliation she experienced, the damage to her reputation, and the loss of a career spanning over 60 years is punishment enough.”
Federal prosecutors acknowledge that Flynn’s conduct and the societal harm caused by public corruption support incarceration, but also consider her “early and complete acceptance of responsibility, including her voluntary disclosure of incriminating information previously unknown to the government,” as weighing in favor of a probationary sentence.
However, contrary to the defense counsel’s recommendation and the U.S. Probation Office’s proposal for two years of probation, federal prosecutors argue that a probationary sentence must be longer, include significant home confinement, and involve a substantial fine.
Ridley-Thomas, 68, faces the possibility of years in prison after being convicted on March 30 of conspiracy, bribery, honest services mail fraud, and honest services wire fraud, stemming from his time on the county Board of Supervisors. Sentencing is scheduled for August 21.
Last month, Fischer upheld the convictions, rejecting Ridley-Thomas’ attempts to have them overturned.
The former city councilman was accused of steering county contracts toward USC’s social work school in exchange for a $100,000 contribution to his son’s organization.
A juror who spoke after the verdict stated that the panel found “dishonesty” in Ridley-Thomas’ actions involving the transfer of $100,000 from his campaign fund to USC, then to the United Ways of California, and finally to the nonprofit.
The jurors, who reached their verdicts after five days of deliberation in Los Angeles federal court, acquitted the influential political figure of a dozen fraud charges.
Ridley-Thomas’ attorneys are appealing the conviction.
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