Once the mayor of Anaheim, Harish “Harry” Singh Sidhu, has agreed to plead guilty to a string of federal offenses connected to suspicions of corruption over the attempted sale of Angel Stadium. These admissions come pursuant to a plea transaction filed on Wednesday by the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Sidhu, an ex-city councilmember, was elected as Anaheim's mayor in 2018 and went on to step down in 2022 upon the FBI investigation becoming public knowledge. The charges brought against him include obstruction of justice, wire fraud, and two instances of making false statements to a federal agency, according to the terms laid out in the plea agreement.
As stated in the document, Sidhu gave Todd Ament, who was then serving as the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce's CEO; and a consultant working for the Los Angeles Angels professional baseball team, confidential information about Angel Stadium's sale while acting as a member of the city's negotiation team in July 2020. The disclosed information intended to enable the Angels to acquire Angel Stadium on favorable terms. Additionally, Sidhu is charged with the destruction of related emails and documents to obstruct the FBI investigation into public corruption associated with the sale.
Sidhu was secretly recorded by federal law enforcement, where he revealed his expectation of receiving a $1,000,000 campaign donation from the Angels if the sale were successful. These comments were transcribed and detailed in the plea agreement, as were further comments made in early 2022 where Sidhu expressed his hopes of gaining a significant sum to support his political ambitions.
Despite his recorded statements, Sidhu voted to sell Angel Stadium in a September 2020 council meeting. When questioned by FBI agents in May 2022, he claimed to expect ‘nothing’ from the Angels.
Providing a statement on the case, Sidhu's attorneys Paul S. Meyer and Craig Wilke expressed appreciation for the US Attorney’s Office's fair handling of the investigation. Looking to distance their client from the scandal, Angels organization spokesperson Marie Garvey emphasized the lack of any wrongdoing evidence tying the Angels Organization to the case.
Further revelations from the FBI investigation uncovered Sidhu's attempt to avoid $15,887 of sales tax by registering a helicopter under an Arizona address belonging to an Anaheim businessperson. Since this was brought to light, Sidhu has settled the owed tax.
The plea agreement indicates that Sidhu stands to face a maximum of 50 years in prison, a supervised release of three years, and a hefty fine amounting to either $1 million or twice the extent of the financial gain or loss resulting from the offenses. However, the prosecutors have agreed to endorse a sentence on the lower end of the guidelines as part of the plea deal. Sidhu is expected to make his plea official later this month in Santa Ana's US District Court.
