Former Anaheim mayor gets two months prison, fine over Angel Stadium sale case

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KESQ) - Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu was sentenced today to two months behind bars and was ordered to pay a $55,000 fine for his guilty plea to obstruction of justice, wire fraud and lying to federal investigators about his role in the city's effort to sell Angel Stadium.

Sidhu, 67, was also ordered to spend one year on supervised release following his prison time.

When Sidhu pleaded guilty in September 2023 he was facing eight to 14 months in prison. Sidhu's attorneys filed court papers March 14 arguing for three years of probation and a $40,000 fine. Probation officials recommended three years of probation along with a $175,000 fine and 400 hours of community service.   

"Rather than work to ensure the city of Anaheim received the best deal possible from the Angels, defendant worked behind the scenes to make the potential deal better for the Angels -- and as defendant later acknowledged in a recorded phone call, did so with the expectation that he would receive a significant campaign contribution of at least $1 million,'' prosecutors wrote in a March 14 filing.  

Prosecutors noted that when investigators confronted him, Sidhu deleted multiple emails related to the negotiations.   

"And when he was first approached by the FBI about the negotiation, he lied -- claiming that he did not recall sharing confidential information with the Angels and that he expected `nothing' from the Angels after the sale,'' prosecutors said.

Sidhu also pleaded guilty to lying to authorities to avoid paying a California tax on his helicopter.

Prosecutors objected to probation for Sidhu because he "betrayed the city of Anaheim. He deleted the evidence of his conduct and lied repeatedly to federal agents. He lied again, later, simply to avoid paying sales tax on a helicopter. Defendant did not engage in this criminal conduct out of desperation, or addiction, or because he had no better options: he did so to further his own political ambition and to save himself a relatively trivial amount of money."  

Prosecutors credited Sidhu for accepting responsibility for his crimes and for repaying the taxes he avoided.   

Imprisoning Sidhu will "promote respect for the law among wealthy and powerful individuals like'' him, according to the prosecution filing.   

"A significant downward variance sends a troubling message: it suggests that defendants who engage in white-collar, public-corruption crimes like this one can simply remove themselves from public life, pay a fine, and face minimal consequences, with incarceration reserved only for blue-collar, less-privileged defendants,'' prosecutors said.   

Sidhu pleaded guilty to using his position as mayor to funnel inside information from the city to then-Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament and a consultant for the Angels, using personal email instead of official city accounts to orchestrate mock City Council meetings on the stadium sale in 2020, and lying to FBI investigators when they confronted him about the corruption.  

Sidhu also used a friend's address in Scottsdale, Arizona, to avoid paying $15,887 in sales taxes on a used helicopter he bought for himself in California that was parked in a hangar in Chino.

Sidhu resigned in May 2022. Ament pleaded guilty in July 2022 to federal charges of wire fraud, making a false statement to a financial institution and subscribing to a false tax return. He cooperated with federal authorities investigating Sidhu and has not yet been sentenced.   

Sidhu's attorneys argued the deleted emails were ``relevant'' to the federal investigation, but not "essential or especially probative'' because authorities already had them from Ament.

"For these reasons, Mr. Sidhu's conduct did not actually destroy any evidence, much less any evidence that was `essential or especially probative' to the investigation,'' his attorneys said.

Sidhu "fully cooperated with federal authorities in their investigation of others by providing complete and truthful information to federal prosecutors and agents about several matters that are the subject of ongoing federal investigations,'' his attorneys contended.   

In another filing on March 20, Sidhu's attorneys further argued that the deleted emails ``were not essential or especially probative'' and they rejected arguments of public corruption.

His attorneys argued Sidhu was never charged or convicted of public corruption such as bribery, so the prosecutors' argument for a punishment to deter further corruption ``is not well taken.''

They added there was no evidence that Sidhu ``acted corruptly or otherwise breached the public's trust.'' Sidhu backed the stadium deal because he believed it was in the best interest of the city, they argued.

The appraisal of the stadium's value he shared with Ament did not affect negotiations, the defense attorneys argued. Sidhu's comments about expecting a campaign contribution was not evidence of ``quid pro corruption'' since he ``never asked for or received a campaign donation from the Angels after voting to approve the deal,'' the attorneys argued.   

Sidhu wrote a six-page letter to U.S. District Judge John Holcomb, detailing his experiences emigrating to the United States in 1974 from India with ``$6 in my pocket.''

Sidhu said he struggled understanding or speaking English and enrolled in a community college in Philadelphia as his father recommended. His father told him he needed to get a job to pay for the tuition.

"My first job in this country was as a janitor at the local Holiday Inn, working night shifts,'' he wrote. ``I cleaned restrooms and restaurants from 11 p.m. to 2 or 3 a.m. before coming home, catching a few hours of sleep and heading to school during the day.

"It was a tough life, balancing school and work but I found it rewarding. My first paycheck was $2.89 an hour. It was a satisfying feeling. Dad said, `Welcome to America. This is how you will build your future for our family.'"

Sidhu graduated from Drexel University in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering ``a very proud moment for me,'' he wrote.   

When he got laid off from a job on the East Coast he moved to Northern California in 1980, and after he was laid off from another job he landed in Glendale, he wrote.

Eventually, Sidhu worked for himself as a contractor and real estate broker and then got into the business of running Burger King, Papa John's and El Pollo Loco restaurants across the Southland.

After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, his family moved from Granada Hills to Anaheim Hills, where he met former City Councilman Tom Tate while coaching a youth soccer team, which led him into local politics, he said.   

Sidhu wrote that he ``always believed that it was in the best interests of Anaheim to keep the Angels in the city.'' He added that losing the baseball team ``would have been devastating to the city.''  

Sidhu said he regrets sending a summary of key deal points to Ament.    ``I should never have done this,'' he wrote.   

He said he deleted the emails because he thought his political opponents would use them against him in his reelection campaign.   

``This was a criminal act, and I am responsible and ashamed for my crime,'' he said.  

Sidhu said he had no excuse for dodging the helicopter taxes.   

``I have no explanation for avoiding the helicopter sales tax besides not wanting to pay it,'' he wrote.

``I am deeply ashamed of my conduct and understand that there are consequences for my crimes,'' he said. ``I have learned hard lessons from this experience, including disgracing my family and destroying my career and reputation. I felt this way before my plea and that is why I voluntarily resigned from my elected position. I am determined to go forward with integrity to rebuild my life.''