Column: Jose Huizar was our rancho’s American dream. Now, he’s headed to prison for 13 years
LA TimesFormer L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar enters the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Friday to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter. “I was in your rancho recently,” he said — El Cargadero, the village in the mountains of Jerez, Zacatecas, where my mom was born, next to Huizar’s birthplace of Los Morales. In late October, Huizar traveled back to the rancho after U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter allowed him to “attend religious ceremonies that are important to his Catholic faith.” In Spanish, I asked if he had attended the Oct. 24 feast day of St. Raphael Archangel, the patron saint of El Cargadero, marked with processions and parties that draw thousands from around Jerez and the U.S. diaspora. When Walter said, “It’s difficult to understand why he decided to throw it all away,” any empathy I had for Huizar vanished, despite our shared background.
History of this topic
For 15 years, José Huizar was an L.A. power broker. Today, he went behind bars
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Former L.A. Councilmember Jose Huizar is granted delay for his 13-year prison term
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Prosecutors seek 13-year prison sentence for former L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar
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The stunning fall of Jose Huizar and how it exposed ‘rampant corruption’ at L.A. City Hall
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