Former Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford Pleads Guilty To Perjury In Corruption Case
PALMDALE (CBSLA) — Jim Ledford, the former mayor of Palmdale, pleaded guilty Thursday to perjury in connection with a corruption case involving two city consultants.
Ledford, 67, entered his plea Thursday to one count of perjury. He was immediately sentenced to two years of formal probation and ordered to pay $189,900 in restitution.
"This case illustrates that some public officials are willing to deceive the public for their own greed," District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement.
Ledford's home and office were raided in 2017 in connection with the corruption case that also snared Kimberly Anne Shaw and Susan Burgess Miller, who worked as consultants for the city of Palmdale. Shaw, who pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return in January 2020, ran AERO Institute, which received more than $2 million annually from NASA. Miller, who pleaded guilty to misappropriation of public funds in January 2020, operated a company known as Complex Culture Change Consulting, which hired Ledford in 2009.
Prosecutors say AERO Institute paid Miller's company more than $13,000 every month, which in turn paid Ledford $5,200 per month, even though he did not perform any substantive work for AERO Institute. Ledford also did not report the income he received from AERO Institute on economic disclosure statements.
District Attorney's officials say NASA is entitled to roughly $1.8 million in restitution from funds seized from AERO Institute.
Ledford served 13 terms as mayor of Palmdale and was last elected to the post in 2016. He ran again in 2018, but lost to current Palmdale mayor Steve Hofbauer.
