Closing: USC's 'VIP' treatment made scholarship for Mark Ridley-Thomas' son 'business as usual'

Prosecution rebuttal continues Friday morning in the federal corruption trial against the suspended Los Angeles city councilman, then jurors will begin deliberating.

Mark Ridley-Thomas leaves the courthouse on Friday, March 17, 2023, with his wife, Avis Ridley-Thomas and his lawyers (l-r) Daralyn Durie, Ramsey Fisher and Galia Amram of Morrison & Foerster LLP. (Photo by Meghann M. Cuniff)

Mark Ridley-Thomas’ lead lawyer argued Thursday that the University of Southern California has a century-old “VIP scholarship prog…