UPDATE: The West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday it will continue to support Wright in the race for City Council.
Zekiah Wright, who was recently endorsed by the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the West Hollywood City Council, was arrested today on felony charges.
Some details of the following timeline are left out due to the investigation. The following is an unsubstantiated report of the allegations:
Wright lived with her partner, Patricia Betzner, who identifies as “Jackie Steele.” Wright and Betzner owned a limited liability corporation in the State of California. Both had access to the online portal, and only Wright and Betzner had access to the corporate documents.
Wright is alleged to have entered the Secretary of State portal and updated the names of the corporate officers and other state documents. Wright replaced their name with John Erickson, using 8300 Santa Monica Blvd., the address of West Hollywood City Hall. Betzner’s address was changed to 649 N. San Vicente, West Hollywood — the location of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station.
When Mayor Erickson learned of his name on these corporate documents in mid -spring, he opened an investigation with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Falsification of documents and Forgery of an elected official are felonies.
The Sheriff’s investigation, working with the Secretary of State, used their computers to trace the IP address where the documents had been falsified. The IP address led to Wright’s law office on Wilshire Blvd.
WEHOonline learned of the incident when Wright declared their candidacy and the impending arrest earlier in the week. The intention was to serve Wright today (Thursday). by asking if she had knowledge of the events. Sheriff’s detectives were prepared to make the arrest.
Wright pulled papers to run in the 2024 West Hollywood City Council election on the last day of the extension period. They had run in 2022 with the support of UNITE HERE Local 11. They went into the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce WEHO PAC endorsements with no money, no endorsements, and walked out with the endorsement in a strange twist to the election cycle.
Mayor Erickson issued the following statement tonight: “My understanding is there is an investigation into this matter, and if you have further questions, please get in touch with the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department. I am confident they will handle this matter appropriately.”
Statement from Wright’s attorney:
My client Zekiah Wright learned yesterday that a criminal citation had been issued by
the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office alleging misconduct relating to them removing
themself as an “authorized agent for service of process” from a limited liability
company Five Foot Monster LLC owned by Patricia Bezner (also known as Jackie
Steele), on June 6, 2024, about five months after they had ended their four-year
relationship and days after my client reasonably believed Steele had engaged in
improper conduct on June 4, 2024 relating to improperly using my client’s
passwords, hacking into their accounts, and locking Zekiah out of their business,
social media and campaign accounts.
My client Zekiah did nothing criminally wrong and their conduct was absolutely
consistent with the authority Steele had given them as her agent to form the
corporation in 2023, to file forms with the Secretary of State on Steele’s behalf, and to
sign on Steele’s behalf. The parties had communications in May and early June 2024
about this entity as is shown by text messages.
For good reason, Zekiah no longer wanted to be associated with Steele’s business in
any manner as an agent for service of process, so they removed themself and added
an individual who they believed Steele told them to add at least as a placeholder. In
hindsight, Zekiah realizes they should have checked with Steele’s friend who was
added to confirm that he consented to being an agent for service of process, but this
was done with the understanding that these were Steele’s instructions. In fact,
Zekiah used office addresses so that no private home addresses were disclosed on a
public form. Zekiah ensured that Steele received an email immediately notifying her
of the updated change on the Statement of Information form and there was no
deception or hiding of my client’s actions. In fact, on June 6, 2024, Steele further
updated the Statement of Information forms on file twice (once adding my client’s
address) and changed the agent for service of process to be Patricia Sweet.
This was not identity theft or perjury, and Zekiah had no fraudulent intent. There
was no change to any other position in the LLC and absolutely nothing that Wright
could gain financially or otherwise from simply removing themself from this unpaid
position as agent for service of process. Nor was there any damage to Steele or her
entity. In addition, my client had oral authorization to file this type of form for Steele
and had done so with her knowledge since the entity was formed.
The moment Zekiah was told on September 11 that a citation had been filed
(although no formal criminal charges have yet to be filed), I was suspicious of what the motives for filing a citation were because I questioned whether Steele was
retaliating for Zekiah having filed and obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
against Steele in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 24STR004079 on
June 11, 2024. The TRO was in effect until July 29, 2024. Zekiah obtained a TRO
after (a) Steele was believed to have locked Zekiah out of their accounts on June 4, (b)
Steele entered Zekiah’s home and took approximately $9,000 worth of my client’s
property without permission on June 9, 2024, and (c) after Zekiah filed a police
report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office in West Hollywood immediately
after Steele took property.
I also questioned the motives given that Zekiah announced August 14 they are
running for political office in West Hollywood where Steele is active politically. I
suspect someone here is using the press given that certain journalists were leaked
information about the investigation and potential charges before Zekiah had ever
been informed of the investigation on September 11. I seriously doubt it was the Los
Angeles County Sheriff’s Office who contacted the journalists.
The damage done to Zekiah’s campaign account and social media accounts was very
suspicious and devastating. Zekiah’s passwords were in a shared Google document to
which the only other person who had access was Steele. The passwords included
Zekiah’s Campaign social media (Instagram and Facebook) accounts. It appeared that
Steele or someone on her behalf used those passwords without permission to hack
into Zekiah’s social media accounts, change the passwords so Zekiah could not log
into them, and then deleted the accounts. The accounts contained 2 years’ worth of
voter contact information, posts, flyers, events, invitations, and direct communication
with voters. Despite best efforts, my client was not able to retrieve their accounts or
any of the data.
Steele also obtained access to Zekiah’s campaign email account and refused to grant
my client access. Eventually, GoDaddy removed Steele’s access. However, Zekiah lost
access to any campaign emails or correspondence prior to the summer of 2024.
Given this turn of events, it is easy to see why Zekiah decided to not want to continue
doing a favor and serving as Steele’s agent for service of process. It also appeared that
Steele wanted to sabotage Zekiah’s campaign efforts.
Given that Steele had received the updated Statement of Information form that my
client filed on June 6 and later the same day Steele further updated the form herself
on June 6 (adding Zekiah’s address and then removing it), do you think that Steele
ever mentioned or questioned Zekiah about the updated form to find out the facts? Of
course not. It was never mentioned. The first time Zekiah was told of an investigation
was 3 months later on September 11.
To add insult to injury to my LGBTQ+ activist client, Steele stealthily waited until
she knew my client was going to be involved for hours driving in the Pride Parade on
behalf of Stonewall Democratic Club (in which Steele is an officer), whereupon she
entered Zekiah’s property with a key she secretly kept and took Zekiah’s property
without permission.
Zekiah Wright will pursue all legal remedies to defend and clear their name and
provide complete information and documents so it can be seen at this early stage that
there is no reasonable basis to believe that their conduct amounted to a crime for
what was a routine filing of an updated Statement of Information form with the
California Secretary of State taking themself out as agent for service of process.
I have attached some records which will show that Steele asked Zekiah to update her
with information about the LLC which she had asked Zekiah to create along with the
login information, and for which Zekiah updated her. In addition, I have attached
some court records from the TRO hearing and court order along with text messages
that show the factual background that led to Zekiah realizing that they did not want
to remain agent for service of process. That position is not a paid position, and its
only purpose is to be the individual responsible for receiving service of lawsuits or
government notices.
It is ludicrous to believe that my client removing herself from this position in the
same manner in which they had done since 2023 by logging in and having an email
sent to Steele was identity theft or perjury as it does not meet the elements of either.
We will present all evidence to law enforcement now that we know of this
investigation and seek a reject of any proposed charges.
###
Jackie Steele had no comment regarding this statement.
Their public comment during Monday’s city council was strong. I commend them for showing up and speaking up.
Wright and “Steele” sound sus. Neither should be allowed anywhere near public office life. Stop electing criminals!!
They/them/he-she/her-him now identifies as a felon, just like Donald Trump. But in West Hollywood, when your campaign promises are all based on free stuff you give away to the poor, paid for by others, and you are promising unrealistic unsustainable hourly wages, and unsustainable Fascist Rent Control, I suspect this charged felon’s popularity will go up.
It is inaccurate and inappropriate to describe someone as a felon when they have not yet been convicted of a felony.
What a clown show.
Why the she/her, they/them confusion?
The pronouns are not interchangeable.
Whether guilty or not any connection to Unite Here gets a big NO from me. Opponents need to use that as a reason to not vote for this person.
People that voted for this person need to evaluate their judgement in character at the very minimum and the integrity of someone. Cuz anyone can run a BS campaign and become Mayor in this little city. He got a lot of votes. He came to my door during the count on a Sunday asking if I voted for him.
What does it mean to identify as a Jackie Steele?
Well, so much for Wright’s political career. Let’s hope. Is the whole country now in the practice of electing felons to office? That’s a rather dismal trend.
No wonder they get nervous when the Sheriff pulls them over! I don’t know why, but I feel sad for them and Jackie. They have so many things in their favor, a law office and potential career in politics, and probably ruined it all.
She always seemed a little off. Not a surprise.
It may be interesting to note that City Hall’s address is 8300 Santa Monica Blvd. not 8500 and that 649 N. San Vicente would be on the west side of the street while the Sheriff’s station is on the east side of the street. I had heard Wright and Steel had gone thru a very messy break up so who knows what happened here. It is definitely very strange. I suspect Mayor Erickson will be disappointed if his buddy, DA George Gascon, does not file this as a felony.