A judge decided Wednesday, Aug. 26, that Westminster City Councilmember Amy Phan West met the terms of a diversion program and dismissed her bribery case.
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“I feel relieved,” Phan West said following the afternoon ruling. “I’m happy because this was so heavy on me and my family and my attorney.”
It’s been more than a year since the Orange County District Attorney’s Office granted Phan West a diversion program for a misdemeanor count of offering a bribe to a public officer. As part of the six-month program that saw her case dismissed, Phan West completed at least 20 hours of community service and took a two-hour ethics class.
But Deputy District Attorney Matthew Bradbury asked Judge Sherri L. Honer to rescind the deal on Wednesday and send Phan West’s case to court, alleging there had been “new law violations” by Phan West.
“It is relevant that she continues to say things and do things that are either unethical or possibly the use of a public position for personal gains,” Bradbury said. “So the People do think it’s relevant that she was ordered to ethics class and she has not learned from that class.”
The District Attorney’s Office announced the criminal charge against Phan West in January 2025, saying she tried to stop the towing of her husband’s car in 2023 by referencing her friendship with the police chief and telling the parking officer she was a councilmember advocating for raises for Police Department personnel.
Bradbury referenced the city’s Tết parade in February, where he said Phan West passed out Congressional campaign flyers to attendees, and other alleged examples of her using public resources toward campaign or personal activities, such as issuing “campaign-style messaging on the city letterhead” and giving a campaign-related interview from within her Westminster council office.
Phan West ran earlier this year to represent California’s 45th congressional district, which includes parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties. She lost in the June primary.
Bradbury also alleged Phan West has repeatedly and publicly downplayed the charge against her, referring to a video taken of Phan West responding to a question at a congressional debate and forum event held in April.
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“Parking control officers are basically those high school or college kids that give tickets, right? And I was served, because, you know, there are people out there who don’t like me as the establishment. They want to take me out because I have no problem speaking out,” Phan West said in the video shown in court. “Now this is the thing. Alleged bribery … where’s the law enforcement there? There’s none of that.
“That’s why this is a jungle-like court,” she added. “It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”
She also said, “Like how they’re doing it to President Donald J. Trump, it’s the same thing they’re doing to take me out.”
Judge Honer said Phan West’s actions did not constitute legal and ethical violations and there was not enough evidence to prove she’d used Westminster city resources for personal gain.
Phan West’s defense lawyer, Randy Collins, told the judge in response to the video, “Some things said were probably uncouth. But I don’t think there were ethical violations.
“She’s done her hours of community service. She’s done the fines. She’s done the two-hour ethical training,” he added.
Her next step, Phan West said, is to focus on her Westminster City Council campaign. She is running in November for reelection to the District 1 seat, which represents about 23,000 residents in West Westminster.
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