A disbarred New York City lawyer, Paul O. Paradis, has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for his role in a corruption scheme. Paradis simultaneously represented the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and a ratepayer suing the City of Los Angeles over billing issues. He accepted a kickback of nearly $2.2 million to arrange for another attorney to supposedly represent his ratepayer client in a collusive lawsuit against the city, which ultimately favored the city in settling the case.
Paradis was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., who emphasized that Paradis had deliberately involved himself in a corrupt scheme motivated by “pure greed.” This corruption case was described as “mind-boggling.”
In 2013, LADWP introduced a new billing system, resulting in inaccurate utility bills for many ratepayers. Paradis was retained by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to represent the city in a lawsuit against the system’s provider, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). At the same time, he also represented a ratepayer named Antwon Jones without Jones’s knowledge.
Paradis orchestrated a scheme to have a friendly attorney ostensibly represent Jones in a class-action lawsuit against the city, with Paradis doing most of the work. He secretly arranged a kickback of 20% of the other attorney’s fees in the Jones v. City case. A $67 million settlement was reached, and Paradis received $2,175,000 through a disguised real estate investment, funneled through shell companies.
Paradis also admitted to bribing LADWP’s general manager, David H. Wright, to secure a $30 million no-bid contract for a billing system remediation project. Wright lobbied for this contract in exchange for Paradis’ promise to make him the CEO of Aventador Utility Solutions, a company formed by Paradis, with a $1 million annual salary and luxury car.
Paradis cooperated with federal investigators, which led to guilty pleas from others involved in the scheme. Despite the prosecution’s recommendation of an 18-month sentence, the judge imposed a longer sentence, citing the damage Paradis had caused to public confidence in the government and the legal profession.
Several individuals involved in the corruption scheme have been sentenced to prison, while one received probation. The FBI conducted the investigation, and federal prosecutors were involved in the case.
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