The first criminal case in a broad scandal over a Los Angeles water billing class action lawsuit has been publicly unveiled, with a New York lawyer agreeing to plead guilty to a federal bribery charge involving secret attorney fee kickbacks in a collusive lawsuit.

Paul Oliva Paradis, 58, admits in a new plea deal to accepting nearly $2.2 million in exchange for him finding an attorney to handle a lawsuit over city water rates who “would be friendly to the city,” according to a news release Monday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.