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<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#4f4243"><strong>LA Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas and Flynn 66, and former USC Social Work Dean Marilyn Louise Flynn, 83, have been charged with conspiracy, bribery, and mail fraud charges </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#4f4243"><strong>Th Ridley-Thomas and Flynn e pair allegedly exchanged county contracts in exchange to get his son and former assemblyman Sebastian, 34, into the school&#8217;s graduate program </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#4f4243"><strong>The school&#8217;s Social Work Dept allegedly faced a &#8216;multi-million dollar deficit&#8217; and threatened &#8216;Flynn&#8217;s reputation and position&#8217; </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#4f4243"><strong>Mark Ridley-Thomas and Flynn traded &#8216;supporting county contracts and lucrative contract amendments with the university&#8217; between 2017 and 2018 in exchange for Sebastian receiving benefits and a teaching job at the university. </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#4f4243"><strong>Sebastian, who received free tuition and a teaching job at the school, was fired after questions arose about his hiring and his dad&#8217;s $100,000 donation </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#4f4243"><strong> The younger Ridley-Thomas also faced sexual harassment allegations from his time as an assemblyman </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#4f4243"><strong>Ridley-Thomas and Flynn, each could face decades in prison for their charges </strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Mark-Ridley-Thomas-left-and-his-son-Sebastian-Thomas-right-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-392540" width="832" height="429"/><figcaption><strong>Indicted: Los Angeles Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, 66, (left) and former University of Southern California Social Work Dean Marilyn Louise Flynn, 83, were cited in a 20-count indictment for conspiracy and bribery in an agreement to get his son Sebastian (right) into the school&#8217;s graduate program </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A Los Angeles Councilman and former University of Southern California dean face conspiracy and bribery charges after allegedly scheming to get the politician&#8217;s son into the school&#8217;s graduate program. <br>Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, 66, and former Social Work Dean Marilyn Louise Flynn, 83, were cited in a 20-count indictment released by the US Attorney for the Central District of California on Wednesday.<br>The indictment alleges that the politician, who was serving on the LA County Board of Supervisors at the time, exchanged county contracts in exchange for getting a relative admission into USC&#8217;s graduate school. <br>The<a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-13/mark-ridley-thomas-usc-dean-bribery-indictment"> LA Times</a> revealed that relative was Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, 34, the Councilman&#8217;s son.<br>Sebastian Ridley-Thomas was a Member of the California State Assembly from the 54th district from 2013 until 2017, when he resigned citing ill health. <br>At the time he was facing sexual harassments allegations, where he allegedly kissed a woman and repeatedly contacted her. He denied any wrongdoing. <br>An outside investigation found that Sebastian &#8216;more likely than no&#8217; did harass the woman and another staffer. California&#8217;s Release of Sexual Harassment Records stated: &#8216;[Sebastian] made a sexual advance on a staff member he asked to dinner and tried to kiss. Repeatedly winked at another staff member and held her hand in a way that made her uncomfortable.&#8217; <br>Authorities say the Mark Ridley-Thomas and Flynn traded &#8216;supporting county contracts and lucrative contract amendments with the university&#8217; between 2017 and 2018 in exchange for Sebastian receiving benefits and a teaching job at the university. <br>In exchange for the contracts, Sebastian would receive &#8216;graduate school admission, a full-tuition scholarship, a paid professorship, and a mechanism to funnel Ridley-Thomas campaign funds through the university to a non-profit&#8217;, the indictment claims. <br>Sebastian was later fired from his position at USC in September 2018 after questions were raised about his appointment and a $100,000 donation his father made to the school, the Times reports.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Marilyn-Louise-Flynn-1-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-392531" width="695" height="657"/><figcaption><strong> Former University of Southern California Social Work Dean Marilyn Louise Flynn, 83, were cited in a 20-count indictment for conspiracy and bribery in an agreement to get his Councilman Ridley-Thomas&#8217; son, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas into the school&#8217;s graduate program </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The enabling circumstances appeared tailor made for fraud.<br>The school&#8217;s Social Work Department was facing a &#8216;multimillion-dollar budget deficit&#8217; that allegedly threatened &#8216;Flynn&#8217;s position and reputation.&#8217; <br>Mark Ridley-Thomas &#8216;allegedly wanted to help secure paid employment for his relative to minimize any public fallout&#8217; after his resignation, according to prosecutors. <br>The School of Social Work was allegedly facing a &#8216;multimillion-dollar budget deficit&#8217; which threaten &#8216;Flynn&#8217;s position and reputation.&#8217; <br>The indictment stated the university&#8217;s Social Work Department received &#8216;contracts to provide services to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and Probation Department,&#8217; and to the &#8216;Department of Mental Health (DMH) that would bring the school millions of dollars in new revenue.&#8217; <br>It alleges that the defendants took actions &#8216;to disguise, conceal, and cover up the bribes, kickbacks, and other benefits&#8217; that Ridley-Thomas and his son were receiving.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/university-southern-california-2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-392552"/><figcaption><strong>The pair of Ridley-Thomas and Flynn now face charges for conspiracy, bribery, and mail and wire fraud and could face decades in prison</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The pair now face charges for conspiracy, bribery, and mail and wire fraud and could face decades in prison.<br>&#8216;The corrupt activities alleged in the indictment were facilitated by a major university&#8217;s high-ranking administrator whose desire for funding apparently trumped notions of integrity and fair play,&#8217; acting U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said in a statement. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HYRzy9rGhkc</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Ridley-Thomas and Flynn will face an arraignment hearing in the coming weeks in a US District Court. <br>They both face one count of conspiracy, one count of bribery, two counts of &#8216;honest services&#8217; mail fraud and 15 counts of &#8216;honest services&#8217; wire fraud. <br>They can face up to five years for conspiracy, 10 years for bribery, and each fraud charge could carry up to 20 years each in prison. <br>&#8216;This investigation should send a message to public officials that government contracts are not for sale,&#8217; Kristi K. Johnson, the FBI&#8217;s LA Field Office&#8217;s assistant direction told KTLA 5. </p>

LA Councilman, Ridley-Thomas, and a former USC dean are indicted on federal bribery and fraud charges, after allegations he ‘exchanged lucrative county contracts for his son’s admission to the school’s graduate program’
