A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Aug. 1 reduced one of the charges against Adam Friedman, son of Beverly Hills City Councilman Lester Friedman, for allegedly creating a fake Instagram account that impersonated one of his father’s political opponents.

Adam Friedman, 37, is now charged with two misdemeanors – unauthorized use of personal identifying information and internet/electronic impersonation – for “Sharona4Gascon,” an account that linked then-council candidate Sharona Nazarian with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

Nazarian has since won a seat on the council, securing the second-highest vote total behind Lester Friedman, who won re-election. However, Beverly Hills City Attorney Larry Wiener said the case would not impact the election results.

Gascón has been controversial since being elected, especially in Beverly Hills, where city officials voted to support his recall.

“We are pleased that a judge found probable cause to allow us to move forward with the criminal prosecution of Mr. Friedman,” representatives of the D.A.’s Public Integrity Division said in a statement. “This political corruption case spotlights the ongoing need to protect the integrity of the election process at every level of government. We believed this conduct represented a serious breach of the state’s identity theft laws, but respect the judge’s decision to reduce that criminal charge to a misdemeanor.”

Adam Friedman pleaded not guilty on July 18. His attorney, Leonard Friedman, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23.