Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday, Sept. 15, in Santa Ana where he is expected to enter a guilty plea in relation to corruption charges.
Sidhu in August agreed in a deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, one count of wire fraud, and two counts of making false statements – to the FBI and to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Federal prosecutors’ investigation into Sidhu stemmed in part from the city’s negotiations to sell Angel Stadium to team owner Arte Moreno’s business partnership, where Sidhu provided confidential information to a consultant working for the Angels, according to Sidhu’s signed plea agreement, so that the Angels could buy the stadium on favorable terms.
Since the announcement of the plea agreement, Angels representatives have emphasized it “showed no evidence of any wrongdoing by the Angels Organization.”
Sidhu knowingly destroyed multiple email messages and documents, the plea agreement says, with the intent to impede and obstruct federal investigators’ investigation related to the city’s failed $320 million sale of Angel Stadium.
Sidhu is set to appear before Judge John W. Holcomb at 1 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. Friday will be Sidhu’s first public appearance since he resigned in May 2022.
The court set Sidhu’s bail at $50,000. The maximum sentence for Sidhu’s offenses is up to 50 years in prison, according to the plea agreement, but his actual sentencing would likely be significantly shorter. A judge will sentence Sidhu at a later date.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has already agreed that if the court imposes a prison term of no less than 30 months, it would waive its right to appeal the sentence.
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