Indicted Ex-Coliseum Officials Ask Judge To Unfreeze Personal Assets
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Former officials with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum want their assets unfrozen after being indicted on bribery and kickback charges.
KNX 1070's John Brooks reports a judge has set a hearing after the defendants voiced their concerns.
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Former Coliseum events manager Todd DeStefano, former Coliseum employee Leopold Caudillo and rave music promoters Pasquale Rotella and Reza Gerami made an appearance at the Criminal Courts building in downtown L.A. in an effort to convince the judge that they cannot conduct business while their assets continue to remain frozen.
Prosecutor Jennifer Snyder said the government has no choice but to keep the assets frozen in order to ensure taxpayers can recover any monies that were allegedly taken illegally.
"It permits you to seize up to three times the value of the loss or the taking, so in this case the loss that we estimate from the charges was approximately $2.5 million," Snyder said.
Rotella in particular is reported to be "fabulously wealthy", according to the District Attorney's office.
Former general manager Patrick Lynch pleaded guilty to a felony conflict of interest charge last week and will return $385,000 to the city.
