Coliseum Scandal Deepens

County prosecutors recently raided the homes of a pair of former officials for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum searching for evidence related to a scandal that rocked the commission overseeing the venue earlier this year.

Attorneys for former Coliseum GM Patrick Lynch and former events manager Todd DeStefano told the Los Angeles Times investigators seized computers, documents and other materials at their clients’ homes.

Both men resigned from the commission earlier this year.

They’ve faced investigations from county prosecutors and the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission following reports that Lynch allowed DeStefano to moonlight as a paid consultant for rave producer Insomniac Events while he worked for the commission planning security and medical services for rave events. Police and hospital officials said drug use was rampant and security was inadequate last June at Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival, where one teen died of a drug overdose.

Lynch attorney Anthony Capozzola told the Times his client has done nothing wrong and is prepared to cooperate in the investigation. Likewise, James Blatt, an attorney for DeStefano, said the seized materials would exonerate his client.

However, a number of documents obtained by the Times found that DeStefano was profiting from more than just the two gigs.

According to disclosures uncovered in state-mandated filings, DeStefano also collected tens of thousands of dollars in secret payments from Insomniac Events and Go Ventures, as well as from Coca-Cola, Southern Wine & Spirits, TV and film production companies and the University of California. He accepted the payments through two companies he’d formed – LAC Events and Private Event Management.

At the same time, DeStefano apparently negotiated deals on behalf of the Coliseum with the beverage companies and also received commissions on proceeds from filming at the venue.

Blatt told the Times DeStefano’s deals were not “secretive” and said he deserved the extra income as he generated new business for the Coliseum commission.

Interim Coliseum GM John Sandbrook told the paper DeStefano was not authorized to negotiate such deals on behalf of the commission and said he was “at a loss” as to why DeStefano received bonuses on location shoots.