LA Mayor Karen Bass' former deputy mayor, who was a top advisor and liaison with police and public safety agencies, agreed to plead guilty Thursday to a single federal charge of making a hoax bomb threat against City Hall.
Brian Williams is accused of using a Google Voice account on his personal cellphone to place a call to his city-issued cellphone during a virtual meeting on Oct. 3, then reported to the LAPD that the call he received was a bomb threat.
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WATCH HERE"During this call Williams falsely stated that he had just received a call on his city-issued cellphone from an unknown man who threatened to bomb Los Angeles City Hall," federal prosecutors said in a statement Thursday.
Minutes later, prosecutors said Williams sent a text message to Mayor Bass and others to report the false threat.
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SIGN UP “Bomb threat: I received phone call on my city cell at 10:48 am this morning," the Feds say Williams wrote. "The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda.’ I immediately contacted the chief of staff of LAPD, they are going to send a number of officers over to do a search of the building and to determine if anyone else received a threat.”
The US Attorney's Office said all of that was fabricated by Williams.
Williams' defense attorney, Dmitry Goren, said in a statement that Williams is a career public servant, and the, "aberrational incident," is not representative of his character.
Goren said Williams has taken full responsibility for his actions in the plea agreement.
The federal charge filed Thursday is a felony that can carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but sentences are typically much shorter.
Williams signed an agreement Tuesday that he will plead guilty to the charge at a future court date.
Williams was placed on leave in December after federal agents served a search warrant at his home.
"Like many, we were shocked when these allegations were first made and we are saddened by this conclusion," Bass' spokesman Zach Seidl said Thursday.
Williams joined Bass' office in March 2023 and worked closely with the LAPD, the Los Angeles Fire Department, and other emergency services.
