Overview
- Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba ruled after a six-day preliminary hearing that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
- Price faces five counts of grand theft by embezzlement, four counts of conflict of interest, and three counts of perjury by declaration, with a maximum exposure of 11 years and 4 months.
- Evidence included records that the city’s Housing Authority and LA Metro paid his wife more than $800,000 as he voted on their multimillion-dollar contracts, plus about $150,000 paid to her firm by developers before related project votes.
- Prosecutors also allege Price misused roughly $33,800 in city funds for health benefits for Delbra Richardson before they were legally married while he remained married to another spouse.
- The defense argues there is no proof of wrongful intent and says staff attempted to flag conflicts, as the case returns to court on March 13 with no trial date set.