Prosecutors rested their rebuttal case before the jury panel was sworn in and discussions began around 10 a.m. in Los Angeles federal court.
A day earlier, jurors heard from both sides — with a prosecutor arguing that Ridley-Thomas, while serving as a county supervisor, “put his hand out” and accepted perks from USC for son Sebastian, who needed media-friendly “landing spots” after resigning from the state Assembly in the midst of a brewing scandal.
Ridley-Thomas, 68, of South Los Angeles, faces nearly 20 federal counts, including conspiracy, bribery, and honest services mail and wire fraud. If convicted as charged, he could be sentenced to decades behind bars. Prosecutors allege that testimony and a long trail of emails and letters prove that Ridley-Thomas and the former dean of the USC School of Social Work, Marilyn Flynn, had a quid pro quo arrangement during 2017 and 2018 in which the then-dean arranged for Sebastian’s admission to USC, a full-tuition scholarship and a paid professorship in exchange for his father’s support for county proposals that would ostensibly shore up the school’s shoddy financial picture and save Flynn’s job.
With the scandal about to break and the Ridley-Thomas name and legacy under threat, the then-supervisor looked for ways for his son to return to work in a prominent, media-friendly position, prosecutors say.
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