Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander was sentenced on Jan. 25 to 14 months in federal prison for obstruction of a public corruption investigation into his acceptance of gifts – including $15,000 in cash – from a businessman during trips to Las Vegas and Palm Springs in 2017.

Englander, 50, of Santa Monica, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who noted that Englander’s “elaborate and clandestine scheme” to cover up his conduct has “undermined the public trust.” Walter declined Englander’s request for probation and ordered him to pay a $15,000 fine.

Englander became the first person to be sentenced in relation to Operation “Casino Loyale,” an ongoing corruption investigation into Los Angeles City Hall that has also led to criminal charges against former City Councilman Jose Huizar and 10 other defendants. Englander, who represented the 12th District in the San Fernando Valley before resigning at the end of 2018, pleaded guilty last July to one count of scheming to falsify material facts.

In the plea, Englander admitted he schemed to cover up cash payments, expensive meals, escort services and other gifts offered to him from an individual identified as Businessperson A, who sought to increase his business opportunities in the city. From August 2017 until December 2018, Englander knowingly and willfully falsified and concealed material facts pertaining to the federal public corruption investigation. Specifically, Englander covered up facts that he had accepted items of value during June 2017 trips to Las Vegas and Palm Springs, and that he directed a witness to lie to and mislead federal investigators, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Nine individuals and two businesses have been charged as a result of the FBI investigation into corruption at L.A. City Hall, including Huizar, who is the lead defendant in a sweeping racketeering indictment that alleges he agreed to accept at least $1.5 million in illicit financial benefits while serving as the leader of a criminal enterprise. A jury trial for Huizar and the other defendants is scheduled to begin on June 22.