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    Ex-Anaheim Chamber CEO Todd Ament outlines arguments to judge for withdrawing his guilty plea
    • April 16, 2026

    Ex-Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament and his attorneys laid out their arguments in front of a judge this week for why Ament should be allowed to withdraw the guilty plea he entered four years ago in a deal with federal prosecutors amidst an FBI probe into allegations of corruption in Anaheim.

    As part of the deal with federal prosecutors, Ament agreed to wear a wire that recorded conversations with then-Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu — an investigation that led to Sidhu’s own guilty plea and jail time and the City Council canceling the Angel Stadium sale Sidhu spearheaded — and pleaded guilty to submitting a false tax return, lying to a mortgage lender and to two counts of wire fraud.

    Ament gave testimony at Wednesday’s, April 15, evidentiary hearing to withdraw his guilty plea, which got started in March, saying he’d received poor advice from his previous attorney, who Ament said disregarded his “strong concerns about the accuracy of things that were left in the plea agreement.”

    “I didn’t want to take the plea deal,” Ament said while being questioned by Daniel C. Silva, one of his new attorneys. “But I was told that was the best I was going to do and that I’d be a fool not to take it.”

    Ament’s previous attorney, Salvatore Ciulla, when it was his turn for questioning, said Ament “took issue with some of the wording” with respect to the cannabis related fraud charge and whether work had been done by a cannabis task force; Ament asked for $225,000 from company employees to launch a task force and lobby the cities of Anaheim and Irvine to legalize retail weed sales.

    Prosecutors have twice recommended dropping the cannabis-related fraud charge, but Judge Aenlle-Rocha shot down those attempts.

    “On the other three counts,” Ciulla said, “no, he never indicated he was innocent or anything other than ‘I did what it says.’”

    As of their latest court filing in March, federal prosecutors are supporting a day in jail, or time served, for Ament, as a reward for his cooperation.

    Running out of time on Wednesday, the evidentiary hearing was scheduled to carry over into next week.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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