A federal judge on Tuesday convicted a key figure in the massive corruption scandal at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the

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office to almost three years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. ordered Paul Paradis, a former attorney turned cooperating witness for the federal government, to serve 33 months more than the 18-month sentence recommended by prosecutors. Paradis lawyers tried to get their client to avoid jail

and pointed to the numerous undercover operations Paradis undertook for the government that contributed to guilty pleas in the corruption case.

The judge’s ruling appears to mark the final chapter in the federal criminal investigation that has engulfed City Hall since FBI agents first raided several government buildings in the summer of 2019.

Paradis was one of the players in the scandal, which centered on a sham lawsuit over inflated DWP bills created by the city, part of a bold plan for the city to sue itself to quickly settle the slew of DWP claims settle customers.

Paradis admitted receiving a kickback of nearly $2.2 million from another lawyer who worked on the DWP case. Prosecutors say he also took part in other bribery schemes.

Blumenfeld cited Paradis’ long legal career in handing down his sentence. He said Paradis, an aggressive one

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lawyer from New York, had a “sharp” intellect and was “blessed with charm and charisma.”

But eventually Paradis went down a path of corruption. “Mr. Paradis was at the center” of a “greedy and corrupt” scheme,” Blumenfeld said.

In his comments to the judge, Paradis expressed regret for his actions. While standing with the lecturer, he also publicly accused former city Atty. Mike Feuer lied to the grand jury and investigators based on statements Paradis said were made by an FBI agent in a search warrant affidavit.

In addition, Paradis has filed several documents, including state bench complaints and ethics complaints, accusing other attorneys, including Feuer, of lying or other misconduct.

Feuer has long denied that there was any wrongdoing in the case.

Speaking to reporters after the sentencing, Paradis said he was “devastated” by the sentence.

Despite admissions in court documents by prosecutors that the city’s legal scheme was known to other top officials in the region

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Ultimately, the firm charged only two attorneys with crimes.

Prosecutors have declined to explain their charging decisions, but a spokesperson for the U.S

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Office said earlier this year that the agency generally does not file charges if “any element of a federal crime” has not been established.

The DWP estimates the scandal cost the city more than $120 million.