The former mayor of Anaheim, California, agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to obstructing a federal corruption investigation in the attempted sale of Angel Stadium.
Harish “Harry” Singh Sidhu acknowledged that he provided confidential information to people working for the Angels Major League Baseball club to help them reach a deal with the city to buy Angels Stadium in exchange for a $1 million campaign contribution, according to the press release.
The former mayor also admitted that he destroyed evidence and made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during its investigation into public corruption.
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“While serving as Anaheim’s mayor, Mr. Sidhu took a series of actions that compromised the city’s negotiating position by providing confidential information and secretly working to influence the city’s decision-making process – all of which had a detrimental effect on the city and its residents,” First Assistant United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally said, according to the press release.
Sidhu repeatedly pressed the MLB team for $1 million throughout the negotiations process and planned to use the money for his upcoming election campaign, according to the plea deal.
“Because I am hoping to get at least a million from I’m going to push it. [Angel’s representative] actually asked me. He said, ‘What can I do for your election?’ I said, ‘Let me finish your deal first, and then we’ll talk about that.’ . . . So I’m going to be asking for a million dollars from him . . . For my election,” Sidhu said in a conversation secretly recorded by the FBI on January 28, 2022, according to the plea deal.
Marie Garvey, an Angels spokesperson, said Wednesday that “it is important to note both the plea agreement along with the city’s investigation showed no evidence of any wrongdoing by the Angels organization,” according to the Associated Press.
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Under the deal negotiated by Sidhu, the Angels would have purchased the Anaheim-owned baseball park as well as 151 acres to develop for $325 million but would only have to pay $150 million in cash total, AP reported. The MLB team would have agreed to remain in the city until 2050 as a result of the deal.
Sidhu will face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for obstruction of justice, 20 years for wire fraud and five years for each of false statement counts, according to the press release.
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