Two people who were suspected of illegally recording a conversation between four Latino political leaders that sparked an uproar at City Hall will not face misdemeanor charges.
Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto decided not to prosecute Santos Leon and Karla Vasquez, a married couple who worked at the L.A. County Federation of Labor, where the conversation took place in 2021.
Prosecutors at the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office had already declined to bring felony charges against either Leon or Vasquez.
The secretly recorded audio, which became public in 2022, sparked a national furor and led to the resignations of City Council President Nury Martinez and Ron Herrera, then head of the labor federation.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Feldstein Soto said in an email that there is “insufficient evidence to meet the constitutional standard of proof” for misdemeanor charges against Leon or Vasquez.
Ivor Pine, the spokesperson, did not say when the decision was made. Recording a conversation without the participants’ consent is illegal under California law, with rare exceptions.
“Number one, my client has always been adamant that he is not the one responsible for making the recording,” said Leon’s attorney, Bob Schwartz. “Number two … whoever did make the recording performed, as we now know, a great public service in the highest tradition of whistleblowers.”
Leon no longer works at the labor federation, Schwartz said.
Vasquez has previously proclaimed her innocence. On Tuesday, her lawyers, Michael A. Goldstein and Hagop Kuyumjian, said the city attorney’s office had not informed them of the decision to not pursue charges.
“If that is in fact true, I’m sure Ms. Vasquez will be relieved that neither the D.A.’s office or the city attorney’s office will pursue charges in this matter,” they said in a statement.
The decision by Feldstein Soto’s office was first reported by the Associated Press.
The 2021 recording captured a lengthy conversation between Martinez, Herrera and Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León that focused heavily on the city’s redistricting process and also featured racist or derogatory remarks.
By the time the recording surfaced a year later, Cedillo had lost his bid for reelection. De León, now in a tough reelection fight, apologized over his involvement in the conversation. His opponent, Ysabel Jurado, has made the recording a campaign issue, highlighting it at candidate debates.
In January, Los Angeles police asked prosecutors in Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s office to charge Leon and Vasquez with illegally recording a conversation and wiretapping.
The LAPD investigation found that between Sept. 19 and Oct. 6, 2022, the recording was posted on Reddit and then amplified on Twitter by accounts that had been recently created, according to a memo by the district attorney’s office explaining the decision not to file charges.
Both accounts were connected to a Gmail handle, “[email protected],” which police then linked to the internet service provider address at Vasquez and Leon’s home.
While prosecutors determined that “a crime was committed by one or both of these individuals,” police could not determine how the audio was made, identify a device used to make it or determine who uploaded it to Reddit. Ultimately, Gascón’s prosecutors referred the case to the city attorney’s office to consider misdemeanor charges.
“Neither suspect was willing to provide a statement and each are represented by separate counsel,” the memo stated.
Los Angeles police sought charges not just over the 2021 conversation involving Herrera and the three council members but also a September 2022 phone call between Herrera and another individual that involved wiretapped communications.
De León and Cedillo filed separate lawsuits in Los Angeles County Superior Court last year, saying the recording did permanent harm to their reputations and careers. Both lawsuits alleged invasion of privacy and negligence.
The Federation of Labor, Leon and Vasquez are defendants in Cedillo’s lawsuit. De León’s lawsuit named only the staffers.
De León denounced Feldstein Soto’s decision, saying she had “shirked her duty as a criminal prosecutor” by declining to pursue charges.
Cedillo also strongly disagreed with the outcome of the investigation, saying that the district attorney, the LAPD and a judge in his civil case found that the secret recording amounted to “criminal activity.”
“I think it’s an incredible injustice for the people of Los Angeles and those who expect to be able to go and sit and have a private conversation anywhere in the city, state or this nation,” Cedillo said.