Former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament is now claiming he’s innocent after pleading guilty to multiple fraud charges in 2022, just weeks before he was set to be sentenced for those crimes. 

Ament, a key figure in the 2022 Anaheim corruption scandal, submitted a motion last month to withdraw the guilty plea he entered into more than three years ago arguing that he accepted a plea agreement based on bad advice from his former lawyer, Salvatore Ciulla. 

“I told my prior counsel, Salvatore Ciulla, that I could not admit to the facts alleged in the Plea Agreement. The reason: the facts were untrue,” Ament wrote in his sworn statement on Nov. 4. “Despite my protests of my innocence and an inherently flawed factual basis, Mr. Ciulla directed me to plead guilty.” 

To read Ament’s full statement, click here. To read his plea deal, click here. 

Ciulla and Ament’s new lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. 

The charges Ament pleaded guilty to include two counts of wire fraud for defrauding a cannabis company and fraudulently obtaining a $62,000 COVID-relief business loan, one count of lying to a financial institution and one count of submitting a false tax return. 

[Read: Anaheim Chamber CEO Todd Ament Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges, Could Face Decades in Federal Prison]

Former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament, leaves the Los Angeles Federal Courthouse on Friday, August 22, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC.

Ament now says he didn’t owe the cannabis company anything, and that he had “consistently maintained my innocence,” despite pleading guilty. 

“The motion to withdraw does not reflect any ‘buyer’s remorse or engaging in gamesmanship’ or my ‘cold feet’ in the face of the impending sentence.” Ament wrote. “I did not, to my knowledge, owe the Cannabis Client any fiduciary duty.” 

While federal prosecutors were calling for Ament to face no time in prison and pay a $225,000 fine, there’s no guarantee that’s the only penalty he would have faced. 

US District Judge Fernando Aelle-Rocha is overseeing Ament’s case.

In a related case stemming from the Anaheim corruption scandal, Aelle-Rocha sentenced former influential Democratic powerbroker Melahat Rafiei to six months in prison after she pleaded guilty to attempted wire fraud – a sentence stiffer than the one year of probation federal prosecutors asked the judge for. 

[Read: OC Democrat Lobbyist Gets Six Months in Jail for Attempted Wire Fraud]

Rafiei also helped prosecutors investigate Ament according to their filings, noting she recorded phone calls with him that later led to his charges. 

How Did Ament Become a Central Figure in a Corruption Scandal?

Anaheim Chamber of Commerce offices on Saturday, June 18, 2022. Credit: DEVON JAMES, Voice of OC

Ament pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in 2022 after FBI agents described him as the ringleader of a group of powerful insiders who controlled policy making through elected officials at city hall.

In an FBI affidavit that surfaced publicly in Spring 2022, federal agents said Ament and his group carefully orchestrated meetings with certain city officials – hosting private retreats to discuss matters expected to be publicly debated by the Anaheim City Council.

[Read: Inside The Shadowy Anaheim Chamber of Commerce Retreat Called Out By the FBI]

Independent investigators hired by the city would later allege that Ament was part of a conspiracy to divert $1.5 million of a $6.5 million bailout given to Anaheim tourism bureau, Visit Anaheim, to an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce controlled nonprofit.

The money was given to Visit Anaheim to market the resort and book conventions at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when the city’s tourism industry was shut down indefinitely.

Ultimately, federal prosecutors ended up charging Ament for two counts of fraud – one charge for taking money from the cannabis company, and another count for seeking a Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the federal government that prosecutors say Ament used to pay his bills. 

“Defendant took advantage of a global pandemic to line his pockets with tens of thousands of dollars of public funds – money it does not appear defendant even particularly needed,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing report filed Nov. 4. “However, once confronted by the FBI, defendant immediately accepted responsibility for his actions and agreed to cooperate.” 

He was also charged with – and pleaded guilty to – bank fraud and submitting false tax returns. 

By Sept. 2021, federal prosecutors say Ament was fully cooperating with their investigation into former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, allowing investigators to monitor his phone for months and record conversations he had with Sidhu. 

Sidhu later pleaded guilty to several charges, including obstruction of justice, and served two months in prison this year.

[Read: Disgraced Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu Sentenced to Two Months in Prison]

Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu during the groundbreaking for Gypsum Canyon site in Anaheim Hills on Dec. 8, 2021. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC

But Ament is now claiming he buckled under the pressure of a federal investigation, and that he was afraid if he didn’t cooperate, the government would seize his house. 

“Fearful and overwhelmed, I agreed to cooperate on the spot,” Ament wrote. “One (US Attorney’s Office) prosecutor verbally promised me that my ‘cooperation can make these charges go away.’ I believed him. FBI special agents continually told me that I was ‘doing well’ throughout my cooperation, all of which was inuring to my benefit.” 

He also claimed that Ciulla did not know how to properly handle his case, claiming he “had exceedingly limited experience defending subjects and targets of federal white-collar investigations,” and that Ciulla never negotiated him a written cooperation agreement. 

“Following months of this ‘naked’ cooperation, and FBI special agents repeatedly suggesting that I was unlikely to be charged due to my successful cooperation, I—without notice or any indication of being a flight risk, danger to the community, or other exigency—was arrested and charged,” Ament wrote in his Nov. 4 court filing. 

He also claimed that Rafiei was one of his “main political rivals” and that he never attempted to defraud anyone, including the cannabis company she was representing. 

In their sentencing recommendations, prosecutors say Ament asked for $225,000 from that company and ultimately pocketed over $40,000 in his personal bank account according to federal prosecutors. 

“I have never agreed to bribe anyone. I did not plan to keep any money improperly from the Cannabis Client,” Ament wrote. “Mr. Ciulla told me that I could, and should, plead to the facts alleged in the Plea Agreement and Information, even if I did not believe them to be true and accurate.”

Todd Ament & The Chamber of Commerce

Residents and community members created signs to showcase at the Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) press conference on Feb. 27, 2023. The people of Anaheim are calling for the authorization of additional funding to complete the internal corruption investigation in the city. JL Group, LLC, the city-hired investigative firm, anticipates the report can be completed by July 1. (Omar Sanchez / Voice of OC) Credit: OMAR SANCHEZ, Voice of OC

The corruption scandal surfaced in early 2022 when Ament was leading the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and was a close ally of Sidhu. 

Under his leadership, critics and local watchdogs say the chamber morphed from a group aimed at aiding local businesses to a political machine gaining greater influence over city hall.

[Read: What Made Anaheim’s Chamber Tick?]

Earlier this year, the Chamber’s new leaders announced they would be rebranding and staying out of politics after almost shuttering its doors.

[Read: Disneyland Resort Interests Are Reorganizing in Anaheim After Corruption Scandal]

They are now pursuing an over $1 million restitution claim against Ament and submitted a letter to the court asking for Ament to repay all the financial damage they suffered, totalling over $264,000. 

What Happens Next? 

Judge Aelle-Rocha issued a new timeline for Ament’s case on Wednesday morning, noting he would give Ciulla almost until the end of the year to respond to Ament’s claims. 

From there, Ament has to decide if he wants to push ahead with claiming his lawyer was ineffective by Jan. 13 2026, with the next hearing on the case set for Feb. 20 next year.

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.

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