Ex-Burbank Councilman Gets Prison Sentence

A former Burbank city councilman who pleaded guilty to bank fraud for falsifying information on a home loan application was sentenced Monday to 21 months in federal prison.

At the urging of federal prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Ronald S. Lew sentenced James Richman, 63, to the minimum prison term under federal sentencing guidelines.

The former politician could have been sentenced to as much as 27 months behind bars after admitting he defrauded Western Federal Savings & Loan in Tarzana in connection with the purchase of a home in Bell Canyon in 1991.

Richman could have paid $250,000 in fines and restitution payments. But although the financial loss arising from Richman’s conduct was estimated at $800,000 to $1.5 million, the judge fined him only $20,000, citing his age and diminished earning capacity.

Government lawyers said the one-term councilman submitted falsified tax returns to the Tarzana thrift and lied about the source of the money he intended to use for a down payment on the Hackamore Lane house. Richman received a bank loan totaling more than half a million dollars, according to prosecutors.

In September, defense attorney David Houchin reached a deal with prosecutors that was later sealed by a judge.

Houchin could not be reached for comment. But his client is scheduled to surrender to authorities April 15, prosecutors said.

Richman, who served on the Burbank City Council from 1977 to 1981, has been a colorful and controversial figure in local politics. in 1978, he survived a recall drive mounted by opponents who claimed Richman was ineffective and abrasive.

Once out of office, Richman was ordered by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to pay $10,000 for implying that one of his political foes was homosexual.

Later that year, Richman was ordered to pay a libel judgment of $5,000 to a concert-promotion firm as part of a $4.6-million judgment against Burbank.

The city had barred the promoters from putting on rock concerts at the local Starlight Amphitheater. Richman argued the concerts would attract crowds of “homosexuals and dopers.”