Former HUD Aide Pleads Innocent to Fraud Charges
- Share via
WASHINGTON — An aide to former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. pleaded innocent Friday to charges in the HUD influence-peddling scandal.
The defendant, Joseph Strauss, was given until Oct. 25 by U.S. District Judge Harold Greene to file pretrial motions. No trial date has been set.
Strauss was indicted July 28 on six counts of fraud, perjury and cover-up charges. He is accused of taking more than $50,000 in payoffs from a developer and a consultant seeking millions of dollars in federal funds for a low-income housing project in Puerto Rico.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
