Donation from prominent LA politician roils USC, prompts referral to federal prosecutors
LOS ANGELES_When state Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas resigned suddenly in December, it marked an abrupt halt to a promising political career.
The son of powerful Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas had enjoyed the backing of his father's donors and the Democratic Party establishment.
Ridley-Thomas, 30, said at the time that unspecified health problems left him no choice but to step down. He needed "an extended period of time to recuperate," he wrote in a statement.
Within months, the younger Ridley-Thomas re-emerged at the University of Southern California.
The university, which sits in his father's district, hired him as a professor of social work and public policy. USC also gave Ridley-Thomas, who lacked a graduate degree, a scholarship to pursue a master's program in social work, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The unusual arrangement has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as the scandal-plagued university attempts to adopt more transparency in its affairs. Administrators launched an
