After a second judge rejected his bid to dismiss the case, the longtime CD9 councilmember is set to return to court Oct. 16. Price faces 12 felony charges and maintains his innocence.
CD9 is the most punished district in Los Angeles, with the highest poverty rate in the city, has spent 13 years living under a councilmember who now stands at the doorstep of a criminal trial for public corruption.
Curren Price has represented Los Angeles City Council District 9 since 2013. The district he oversees, which stretches from Exposition Park and USC through South Los Angeles to the edge of Watts, has the highest poverty rate of any council district in the city, with roughly 42% of residents living below the poverty line. Now, as Price closes out his final year in office, he faces a felony trial that could send him to prison.
What Price Is Accused Of
Price faces 12 felony counts: five counts of grand theft by embezzlement of public funds, four counts of conflict of interest, and three counts of perjury by declaration.
The core allegation is that a consulting firm owned solely by his wife, Delbra Pettice Richardson, received substantial payments from real estate developers and public agencies while Price voted, in his oficial capacity, to approve projects, grants, and contracts benefiting those same parties. Prosecutors say her firm collected over $150,000 from developers between 2019 and 2021 before Price cast supportive votes on their projects. A later round of charges, added in 2025, alleges that the city’s housing authority and LA
Metro paid Richardson more than $800,000 combined while Price voted to award those agencies
multimillion-dollar contracts. He is also accused of improperly using roughly $33,800 in city funds to cover Richardson’s medical benefits while he was still legally married to another woman.
Price has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains his innocence. His attorney has argued the case rests on “cynical speculation” and that prosecutors have not shown Price was aware of any conflicts when he cast the votes in question.
Where the Case Stands
The case has moved slowly but steadily toward trial:
- June 2023 — Price is initially charged with 10 felony counts.
- December 2023 — He pleads not guilty and is released on his own recognizance.
- August 2025 — Prosecutors add two more conflict-of-interest counts after uncovering additional evidence, bringing the total to 12 felony charges.
- January 2026 — After a six-day preliminary hearing, a judge finds sufficient evidence and orders
Price to stand trial on all 12 counts.
- April 2026 — Price is formally arraigned and again pleads not guilty.
- May 2026 — His defense files a motion to dismiss the case.
- August 2026 — A second judge rejects that motion, ruling prosecutors presented “ample evidence” of probable cause.
What Comes Next
Price is due back in court on October 16, 2026, for a pretrial hearing where an actual trial date is
expected to be set. No trial date has been fixed yet, and legal observers note it’s unlikely proceedings Will begin before Price’s final term on the council ends in November 2026, meaning he may leave office before ever facing a jury.
If convicted on all counts, Price faces up to 11 years and 4 months in custody, including as much as 9 years and 4 months in state prison. He remains, for now, presumed innocent, and continues performing his duties as CD9’s representative while the case proceeds.
Price’s case is part of a broader pattern of scandal that has rattled the LA City Council in recent years, following the federal convictions of former councilmembers Jose Huizar and Mitch Englander, and the indictment of Mark Ridley-Thomas. But Price’s is the only corruption case tied specifically to CD9, a district whose residents, prosecutors and community advocates alike have noted, have the least room to absorb a councilmember accused of self-dealing.
