Ex-Labor Official Gets 3 Years in Kickback Case
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LOS ANGELES — A former state deputy labor commissioner responsible for regulating working conditions in the garment industry was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for taking kickbacks from clothing manufacturers.
Howard Hernandez, 48, of Montebello also was ordered to pay $283,000 in restitution to the state.
Hernandez was arrested and fired in September 1997 after investigators saw him take a bribe in a Montebello parking lot.
He had worked for 15 years as an inspector with the state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
He was assigned to the Targeted Industries Partnership Program, an elite group that concentrated on catching labor violations in the garment and agricultural industries.
Hernandez pleaded guilty Oct. 5 to conspiracy, three counts of extortion and one count of filing a false tax return.
He admitted taking bribes from garment manufacturers, most of them in Koreatown, in exchange for not inspecting their facilities or for intervening to reduce fines assessed after inspections. Edwin Kim, who paid a bribe to Hernandez and later worked as his “bagman” to collect money from other Korean business owners, was sentenced last week to 18 months in federal prison, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Maurice Suh.
Several other people who admitted paying Hernandez bribes will be sentenced shortly, Suh said.
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