Former GM pleads guilty to felony charge

The former general manager of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum pleaded guilty Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court to a singular felony charge of conflict of interest.

Guilty · Patrick Lynch, former general manager of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, plead guilty Wednesday to a felony charge. - Daily Trojan file photo

Patrick Lynch, 55, will repay $385,000 in restitution within 45 days and will be placed on three years’ probation, according to reports from the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times. He is expected to serve 1,500 hours of community service and to possibly pay additional fines, as well.

Lynch, along with former Coliseum Events Manager Todd DeStefano, former Coliseum Technology Manager Leopold Caudillo Jr., two rave promoters and a contractor, was named last week in a 29-page grand jury indictment alleging bribery, conspiracy and embezzlement in addition to conflict of interest.

The indictment accuses Lynch, who managed the Coliseum for 17 years before resigning in February 2011, of knowingly accepting and permitting bribes for raves and other events held at the taxpayer-funded venue.

Lynch pleaded guilty to one of the six felony counts he faced. Under the plea agreement, he will not serve any jail time and will be eligible to apply to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor following his three-year probationary period.

He faced up to 15.5 years in prison, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Lynch, DeStefano and Reza Gerami, owner of the rave promoting company Go Ventures, Inc., were arrested last Thursday. Pasquale Rotella, the founder of Insomniac Events, turned himself in to authorities the following day.

DeStefano is currently charged with receiving more than $1.8 million in payments and bribes from Gerami and Rotella.

All three have pled not guilty.

The Coliseum Commission, the stadium’s nine-member governing body, filed a lawsuit against Lynch and DeStefano in November, alleging that they had mismanaged funds.

USC has been a tenant at the Coliseum since it opened in 1923. The university has also been in negotiations with the commission since September to obtain operational control of the facility.