LA Coliseum Settles For $3.5M With Insomniac

The  legal battle between the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission and Insomniac over the company’s alleged impropriety in its use of the Coliseum seems to have drawn to a close with a settlement of $3.5 million.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Insomniac agreed to pay out to get the charges of bribery and paying outside of legal means dismissed in Los Angeles Superior Court Oct. 2, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission went after Insomniac and others, most notably former Memorial Coliseum events manager Todd DeStefano and GM Patrick Lynch, in court earlier this year for allegedly moving money directly to the stadium execs and not giving the city its due.

Co-defendant Go Ventures filed for bankruptcy in 2016, according to the Times.

Controversy surrounding Insomniac’s use of the Coliseum has dragged on for years, as felony charges against Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella were dropped by the LA County District Attorney Aug. 4, 2016 only for the commission’s suit to be filed the following year.

The language from both parties seems to indicate that the matter is finally drawing to a close, although the terms will still take some time to be finalized, according to the Times.

“The commission believes the settlement is in the best interest of the public and the commission,” Commission attorney Charles Slyngstad was quoted in the Times.

“I’m so pleased to finally be putting this matter behind me,” Rotella said in an emailed statement to the paper. “It’s been a long journey to get where we are, and I’m excited about what’s next for me in my hometown of Los Angeles.”

Lynch pled guilty to felony conflict of interest in 2012, paying $385,000 according to the Times, and settled another suit for $30,000 the following year.

DeStefano pleaded no contest to the same charge in 2016 according to MyNewsLA, receiving a sentence of six months in jail and being ordered to pay $500,000.

Rotella and Reza Gerami of Go Ventures pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conflicts of interest in their criminal trial and paid $150,000 and $30,000 respectively, according to the Times.

Insomniac has not held Electric Daisy Carnival at the Coliseum since 2011, when its flagship event moved to Las Vegas.

Neither the Commission nor Insomniac responded to Pollstar’s request for comment.