The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

More charges filed in Palmdale public corruption case

by •

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford

LOS ANGELES – Five new counts were added Wednesday to a criminal complaint alleging that Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford conspired with two consultants by receiving more than $60,000 a year from a nonprofit and not disclosing the income on economic statements, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Ledford, 64, and co-defendants Kimberly Anne Shaw, 62, and Susan Burgess Miller, 69, appeared in court Wednesday, Jan. 31, but their arraignment was postponed until March 28.

Ledford is charged in a second amended felony complaint with one count each of conspiracy and conflict of interest, and three counts of perjury. He also faces one misdemeanor count of using an official position for personal gain.

Shaw also was charged with conspiracy, as well as one count of embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, and four counts of filing a false tax return. Miller faces one count each of conspiracy, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.

The defendants allegedly used various shell companies to pay Ledford about $5,200 a month between 2009 and 2017, according to the complaint.

Shaw had been a consultant for the city of Palmdale for the past 20 years, and with Miller’s assistance, ran the AERO Institute, which received more than $2 million annually from NASA.

Miller operated a company known as Complex Culture Change Consulting and hired Ledford in 2009. Over a four-year period, AERO Institute paid the consulting firm more than $13,000 every month and the consulting firm, in turn, allegedly paid Ledford $5,200 per month.

Prosecutors allege Ledford did not perform any substantive work for AERO Institute during that time frame. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Ledford is accused of not reporting the income he received from AERO Institute on economic disclosure statements.

Shaw is accused of claiming on her tax forms on behalf of AERO Institute that the nonprofit organization had a board of directors which held meetings and kept minutes and agendas. However, several people listed on the tax forms as board members were unaware they were board members, never served on the board and never attended any board meetings, prosecutors said.

Shaw also allegedly repeatedly failed to disclose in the AERO Institute tax forms that she received over $150,000 annually from AERO in consulting fees, prosecutors added.

The Palmdale City Council voted to boost Shaw’s consultant contract in 2012 to an amount not to exceed $3.9 million over seven years. Ledford allegedly failed to reveal at the time that he was indirectly receiving income from AERO Institute, a nonprofit organization that had a $1 annual lease of Palmdale public property.

If convicted as charged, Ledford faces a possible maximum sentence of four years and eight months in state prison,while Shaw and Miller face up to four years in prison.

Deputy District Attorneys Russell Moore and Stefan Mrakich of the Public Integrity Division are prosecuting the case.

The case remains under investigation by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.

Previous related stories:

Arraignment postponed again for Palmdale mayor charged in corruption case

Palmdale mayor charged in corruption case

Palmdale mayor addresses District Attorney investigation

Council member calls on Palmdale mayor to take leave of absence

Investigators search home, office of Palmdale mayor

–

–

27 comments for "More charges filed in Palmdale public corruption case"

  1. Mayor of a small town does not have as much power and authority as people think. Im sure the City manager, and city treasure are hiding a lot, and will probably be getting a visit real soon after there done with Jimmy.

      • What is going on with Fern Street? Just wondering Bc that is a Long street with quite a few businesses so I was curious what the title FERN street Mafia means.

        • All the investigators need to do in Lancaster is go over the history of no bid contracts, follow the money, and then you will watch the rats scatter. They could start with two of insider deals, LEAPS and the interest free loan to Ehrlich.

        • Because when the off the record Palmdale council meetings that the Lancaster cronies were illegally holding in Lancaster were pointed out as illegal, Bettencourt and Carrillo stopped going. Hofbauer and Bishop, on the other hand, said that as long as only the two of them were going there wasn’t a quorum so the meetings aren’t illegal and continued to plot with the cronies against the city they are supposed to represent.

          That’s what they do. It isn’t illegal, so there are no charges to be leveled. But asking Wrecks and the gang what’s best for Lancaster and then voting accordingly still makes Hofbauer and Bishop bad news for Palmdale.

        • Innocent until proven guilty is only relevant in America. In Rex’s Lancaster and in the minds of his sheeple Marv Crist, Drew Mercy, Randy Hall, Steve Hofbauer, and Austin Bishop, it is guilty as Rex has charged.

          • Well, JPB, 88% of the people of Lancaster didn’t bother to vote Parris, Crist, and Mercy out of office so why don’t start blaming the people. Unless you are one of the 88% that didn’t bother to vote, and just complain on a daily basis.

          • I vote. Never for the Fern Mafia crowd. Yes, the 88 % are to blame just as the 60% of the 12% who vote and vote for Parris, Crist, Mahli, and any candidate supported by that cartel.

            Rex has figured out that you only need to control about 8% of the population to win elections. Through fear, bullying, money, and taking advantage of uneducated voters, is is a recipe for victory for him and disaster for us.

            Now he is taking his model to Palmdale. Once he infiltrates them, it will be on to Santa Clarita.

            Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

  3. Ledford needs to resign. F B I and the D O J are covering for Obama and Hillary. Last time I looked there were no charges against Rex or Trump.

    • There were charges against Raymond Lee Jennings, Randy Floyd, and Esmeralda Jorge, just like there are charges against Ledford. Who was behind all those charges?

      R. Rex Parris.

      Jennings spent 10 years in jail and was set free because he was innocent. Floyd and Jorge had the charges dropped but their careers were ruined. Time will tell on Ledford. In America, a person is innocent until proven guilty. Experience shows us that when Rex is behind the charges, there’s always an alterior motive.

    • Somebody (Nick) needs to stop watching Faux News. Talking points, talking points, talking points………

  4. meanwhile Trump still goes without charges or being prosecuted for the. massive numbers of felonies he has committed.obstruction of justice,perjury, possible collusion with a foreign government aka treason and various high crimes and misdemeanors. Endangering the security of our country. undermining our democracy. making the u.s. laughingstocks . embarrassing our country. Lying.Racist behavior. sexual harrasment and assault. The list goes on and on and on… I pity the future generations.

  5. Meanwhile Hillary still goes without being charged or proscuted for her massive number of felonies she’s committed.

    • You mean the “felonies” that have been investigated, and investigated some more, and then investigated by an extremely hostile congress, and then investigated some more by that extremely hostile congress, with never anything even remotely resembling any sort of makeable case ever even showing a hint of itself? Is tat the “massive number of felonies” you are referring to?

    • Hey, alseep at the wheel aka REMMER

      Hillary has been investigated like no one else and Comey found that she didn’t lie to the FBI like some of trump’s friends.

      Her pursuers kept coming up empty handed even after an 11 hour hearing that left trey gowdy looking sick and pale. He’s not running for re-election in November. I guess he knows enough about trump to get out NOW!!!!

      Nice pathetic try, REMMER, but no pass.

    • Same goes for the Donald with his Trump University crimes as well as many others. Politicians are all well insulated. Nothing new. Prosecute with your votes.

  6. I sure hope Jimmy Boy’s legal fees are not being paid with city funds. But if he has done what he is being charged for then I wouldn’t doubt it. I bet Rex can get him off then your two cities wont have issues anymore. One of the joys of living outside city limits only the Los Angeles county board of supervisors can screw us over.

    • The presumption of innocent until proven guilty is the foundation of the American legal system. However, to the Parris-Crist-Mercy-Hall-Hoffbauer crowd, it is something to be ignored. Shame on them.

  9. I have seen leaps for a week over palmdale as well as lancaster. I think somethings up with this. Im ok with leaps its not a big deal to me…. However our taxes? Are they going to increase?