SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that a contractor guilty of bribing the embattled former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors first accused Alan Varela, 60, of conspiracy to outright fraud by bribing a city official a year ago, and Varela pleaded guilty in May this year.
In addition to spending 24 months in jail, Valera is fined $ 127,000 as part of his sentence.
Prosecutors said that Varela, a resident of Orinda, was serving as president of civil engineering and construction company PRoVen Management, he and then vice president of the company, William Gilmartin, gave Nuru gifts, including $ 20,000 in meals and a tractor worth In return, Nuru reportedly provided the couple with inside information about a city contract that Varela and Gilmartin were seeking to build and operate an asphalt recycling facility.
The conspiracy to bribe Nuru dates back to 2013 and lasted until January 2020 – when Nuru was arrested by federal investigators on suspicion of wire fraud, prosecutors said.
Gilmartin, 61, was also charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by bribing a city official last year and pleaded guilty as early as May this year. Gilmartin has not yet been convicted.
Varela’s sentence is due to begin in January 2022.
Since Nuru’s arrest, the federal prosecutor’s office has launched a full-scale investigation into corruption in the city, and 11 defendants have been charged to date, including several senior city officials such as former director of Mayor’s Neighborhood Services Bureau Sandra Zuniga and former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission executive Harlan Kelly.
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