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Korean American Ex-L.A. Building Inspector Gets Prison in Corruption Case

March 25, 2014

(CNS) – A former Building and Safety inspector was sentenced today to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for taking more than $30,000 in bribes in connection with building permits for at least a dozen properties in the Koreatown area. 

Samuel In, 67, of Glendale pleaded guilty last year to one count of soliciting and receiving monetary payments.

A 37-year veteran of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, In acknowledged taking cash bribes from 2007 through the end of 2010, usually from Korean victims with limited English-language skills.

U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson ordered the defendant to pay restitution of $30,000 to the city and serve two years of supervised release once he is out of custody. He must surrender May 23 to begin his prison term.

The judge said society “simply cannot tolerate” bribery from a public official.

“We have to do everything we can so that our system has integrity,” Pregerson told the court.

In a statement before he was sentenced, In said he had “disgraced” his family and lost his reputation.

“I will never make the same mistake,” he told the judge.
In one example described in court documents, a victim identified as T.C., who wanted to open a retail store in Los Angeles, handed over $5,000 to In.

To open the store, the victim needed to convert office space in a process that required a building permit. He had limited English ability and faced a difficult time completing the required paperwork.

During one of T.C.’s visits to the department’s offices, In assisted him in the Korean language — informing him he was a senior building and safety inspector — and offered advice on the conversion, according to court papers.

The victim followed In’s advice and received the permit. In then went to the merchant’s store and said he would take care of the inspections and other procedures, if the victim paid him $4,000 in  ”fees,” documents state.

The defendant later increased the amount of his “fees” to $5,000, asking that payments by check be made with the payee line left blank. The victim ultimately made several cash payments totaling $5,000, according to In’s plea agreement.

The defendant admitted soliciting and accepting bribery payments totaling more than $30,000 in connection with his official duties for at least 11 other Koreatown properties.

“Mr. In took advantage of Koreatown residents by taking their money under false pretenses, but also by deluding victims into a false understanding of how city business is conducted,” said Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles.

The FBI launched a probe of building and safety in summer 2010, after an informant came forward to allege that certain inspectors took cash bribes in exchange for permits.

Two former inspectors subsequently pleaded guilty to accepting bribe payments and were sentenced in 2011 to federal prison.