A former Los Angeles deputy mayor testified Thursday that ex-city commissioner Leland Wong gave him Lakers tickets and paid for massages that included sexual favors while pressuring him to help a Taiwanese shipping firm obtain a lucrative city port lease.
But Troy Edwards, one of former Mayor James K. Hahn's top aides, said he did not know that Wong was on the payroll of the shipping conglomerate Evergreen and believed that the former airport commissioner was acting only in his capacity as a city official.
"He was a commissioner for us and he was on our team," Edwards said.
The statements marked key testimony in the prosecution's bribery case against Wong, who is the only city official to face charges stemming from the "pay to play" scandals that dogged Hahn's final year as mayor.
Prosecutors say that while Wong was serving as airport commissioner and later on the Water and Power Commission, he received $100,000 from Evergreen through his Hong Kong bank account in exchange for exerting influence on the company's behalf at City Hall.
Sitting on the edge of his seat and blinking frequently during his three-hour testimony, Edwards testified that during his time as deputy mayor, Wong gave him the basketball tickets and treated him to massages at a downtown hotel spa where masseuses sometimes provided sexual favors.
Edwards said Wong aggressively sought his help to secure a favorable deal for Evergreen on its lease at the Port of Los Angeles.
"I knew that Mr. Wong wanted Evergreen to be happy," said Edwards, who testified under promise of immunity from the prosecution that his statements will not be used against him.
Prosecutors in court showed Edwards and the jury tense e-mails exchanged by the two men over several months.
"Where the hell are you? What's the status on Evergreen?" Wong wrote in one July 2003 e-mail. "Troy, you know, your reputation sucks," Wong wrote in an e-mail later that year, adding that he had "lost face" with Evergreen.
"I am pissed and tired of being treated like crap while I fight the fight," Edwards wrote in one reply. "I do not work for you," he wrote in another.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonlyn Callahan asked Edwards whether Wong was "pressuring you to make a deal with Evergreen."
"He expressed his frustration more than once that this should happen," Edwards said. "He repeatedly called me and pushed me."
A rival of Evergreen was later awarded the lease.
