Geragos previously told The Associated Press that the government's plea agreement last week with Calderon's brother, former state Assemblyman Thomas Calderon, was an obvious effort to pressure his brother to do the same.
"Unfortunately this is the way the U.S. system of justice works," Geragos said. "You are facing enormous consequences in terms of sentencing guidelines and the government makes you an offer that you can't refuse, so you will sing from their script in order to get your head out of the noose."
Thomas Calderon, 62, pleaded guilty last week to a federal money laundering charge for allowing bribe money earmarked for his brother to be funneled through his firm.
The back-to-back plea agreements will settle the high-profile case that was filed in 2014.
"Public officials who engage in corrupt behavior threaten the basic fabric of our democracy," U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said in a statement. "The Calderons have acknowledged their roles in a bribery scheme in which money for them and their families alone was driving legislation that would have benefited only a few individuals."
According to Ron Calderon's plea agreement, he agreed to support legislation that the government says helped a hospital owner maintain a long-running and massive health-care fraud scheme. The law was repealed in 2013, and the hospital owner was prosecuted separately.
In exchange, the hospital owner paid $30,000 to Calderon's son for three summers of work, according to the plea agreement.
Calderon also acknowledged taking money from an undercover FBI agent who posed as the owner of a Los Angeles movie studio and sought Calderon's help promoting an unsuccessful bill that would have expanded tax credits for the film industry.
In exchange for supporting the bill, Calderon accepted $12,000 worth of trips to Las Vegas and a $25,000 payment to a bank account belonging to his brother's consulting company, according to the plea agreement.
The undercover agent also paid Calderon's daughter $3,000 a month for work she didn't do and a $5,000 payment toward his son's college tuition, the plea agreement said.
"My office will not tolerate pay-to-play corruption by public officials and their associates," Deirdre Fike, chief of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said in a statement. "While in office, Ron Calderon and others profited handsomely when bribe money was accepted and laundered, and I'm gratified that he has chosen to take responsibility for his actions."
This post has been updated.
