A Corpus Christi man who was previously convicted and is now on the wrong side of the law again has received a decade-long prison sentence for a drive-by shooting at a former client's home. Jason Jaime Merdes, 44, will serve 120 months in federal prison following the ruling by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani confirmed Wednesday.

Merdes pleaded guilty to the charges back in August, and at the most recent court hearing the victims came forward to tell of the horror caused by the bullets flying dangerously close to their slumbering children. The repairman had previously been fired by the homeowner for a botched repair job and was quickly suspected of possibly being the shooter after the incident in May, a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Police were alerted to this by surveillance video that showed a suspicious vehicle that closely resembled the one Merdes was driving. They didn't have to wait long before they spotted the vehicle leaving his house. During a subsequent traffic stop, officers discovered a smoking gun – a holster on Merdes' belt and, more importantly, a firearm under his seat that matched the used cartridges from the crime scene. During a subsequent search of his apartment, a further trove of nine firearms was discovered.

“Two shooting victims testified in court and both described how the shooting affected their lives and how close the shots were to the rooms where their children were sleeping,” the Justice Department report detailed. Further proceedings will determine which federal prison will become Merdes' new home in the coming years.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Corpus Christi Police Department conducted the incident. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Martin led the prosecution in the courtroom.

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A handyman accused of killing a Jensen Beach woman and then hiding her body in a septic tank has pleaded guilty to murder and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Keoki Demich, 34, was sentenced to three consecutive life terms Tuesday for the murder of Cynthia Cole earlier this year.

By pleading guilty, prosecutors agreed to waive their notice to seek the death penalty.

Demich will serve three life sentences for first-degree murder, burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault or battery and sexual battery. He was also convicted of third-degree grand theft and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Cole’s body was found March 5 submerged in the septic tank — about 4 feet underground — after hours of excavation.

The 57-year-old woman had been missing for more than a week after attending the Jammin’ Jensen event in downtown Jensen Beach.

Demich was a longtime handyman for Cole.

According to court documents, Demich hid inside Cole’s shower while waiting for her to return home.

Records show he attacked her, drowned her inside her bathtub and then proceeded to sexually abuse her before burying her inside the septic tank.

Sheriff William Snyder said investigators secured surveillance video that showed Demich walking away from Cole’s car on the night she disappeared.

The sheriff said Cole and Demich had known each other for years.

Scripps Only Content 2022

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David Bonola and Orsolya Gaal.

A 44-year-old New York City handyman who admitted to stabbing his ex-lover more than 50 times before stuffing her body in a duffel bag and leaving it outside near a park will spend several decades in prison.

Queen’s Supreme Court Judge Michael Aloise sentenced on Wednesday David Bonola to 25 years in prison for the brutal slaying of 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal Earlier this year, prosecutors announced.

In addition to the prison time, Judge Aloise also sentenced Bonola to an additional five years of post-release probation.

“This was a brutal killing, and no amount of prison time can bring the victim back to her loved ones,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement following the proceeding. “Today’s sentencing, however, provides a measure of justice and I hope the victim’s family can rest easier knowing that the person responsible was held fully accountable.”

Prosecutors had initially charged Bonola with murder but in November agreed to drop that charge in exchange for Bonola pleading guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter, Law&Crime previously reported.

According to a press release from prosecutors, Bonola at approximately 12:30 am on April 16 arrived at Gaal’s home. The 51-year-old woman had just returned to her residence in Forest Hills after an evening out at Lincoln Center.

“Bonola and the victim, who were previously known to one another, began to argue. The verbal fight quickly escalated to Bonola slashing Gaal’s throat and stabbing her more than 50 times with a knife,” the press release states. “At approximately 4:15 am, Bonola was captured on a nearby home’s security video surveillance footage wheeling a hockey duffel bag belonging to one of the victim’s sons. The bag, containing Gaal’s lifeless body, was found at about 8:00 am on Metropolitan Avenue, near Union Turnpike, in the vicinity of Forest Park.”

A dog-walker found the bag in question, the DA’s office said.

On the date of the investigation unfolded, a homicide detective said during a press gaggle that the authorities believed Bonola and Gaal had an “intimate-type relationship” and that a “heated” argument began over “domestic” issues between the two. NBC News reported that authorities said Gaal and Bonola were in an “on-again-off-again” romantic relationship that was considered “off” during their final encounter.

A “trail of blood” led investigators from the bag with Gaal’s body in it directly to the doorstep of the home where she resided with her husband and two teenage sons, the local constabulary said. Investigators searched the home where they recovered the murder weapon “hidden” inside.

The jacket Bonola wore during the attack was found in Forest Park.

Gaal’s husband and one of her sons were reportedly out of town visiting colleges at the time of her death; another son was home asleep and apparently was unaware that his mother was being killed.

As the police combed the crime scene, WABC reported that Bonola simply walked up to detectives and said, “I hear you are looking for me.”

“Days later, the defendant offered to speak to police and during questioning made incriminating statements,” one of the DA’s press releases stated. “He revealed that some time on Saturday he went to a hospital for a cut on his hand. He also stated in sum and substance that he and the victim argued and confessed to stabbing her and moving her body.”

Authorities said the cut on his hand was the result of Gaal fighting off his attacks.

“This heinous killing devastated an entire family, left two boys without a mother, and horrified the surrounding community,” DA Katz said in a statement announcing the plea deal. “I want to thank my prosecutors for their exhaustive efforts in securing this plea.”

[image of Bonola via mugshot; image of Gaal via Facebook]

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

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Ex-San Francisco DPW Director Sentenced to Seven Years in Corruption Case | Engineering News Record

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A woman accused of robbing several people of jewelry and other valuables in South San Francisco has been sentenced to one year in jail, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office said.

Louise Frances Lamonte, 36, of South San Francisco, allegedly worked with Charise Marie Raunick of Dublin to rob a victim of $3,000 worth of jewelry at Embassy Suites in South San Francisco in a mock sale turned robbery, the DA’s Office said. They then allegedly robbed a 13-year-old boy on Linden Avenue of his gold necklace and a man of his backpack and wallet before the police found the suspects. Police discovered various victims’ belongings and a loaded .44 Magnum revolver after tracking them down, the DA’s Office said.

At her May 10 court date, Lamonte pleaded no contest to robbery and a separate drunk driving misdemeanor and received one year in county jail, and three years of probation, the DA’s Office said.

Her next court date is June 29 for restitution. In April, Raunick pleaded no contest to three counts of robbery and was sentenced to two years in prison, the DA’s Office said.

The post Girl sentenced for a number of South San Francisco robberies | Native Information appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO – Former San Francisco City Hall public official Mohammed Colin Nuru was sentenced today to 84 months (7 years) in federal prison for honest services wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan, and Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Mark H. Pearson. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge William H. Orrick.

Nuru, 59, was first arrested on January 17, 2020, following the filing of a 79-page federal criminal complaint against him. Nuru was then the Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) and had held that position since 2011, when he was elevated from the DPW Deputy Director of Operations position that he had held since 2000. The complaint charged Nuru with honest services Fraud in public office, alleging a long-running scheme of bribes and kickbacks during his DPW tenure. A second federal complaint filed January 28, 2020, charged Nuru for lying to a federal agent following his arrest.

On January 6, 2022, Nuru pleaded guilty to the charge of defrauding the public of its right to his honest services, in violation of 18 USC §§ 1343 and 1346.

“Mohammed Nuru’s prison sentence is punishment for more than a decade of public corruption,” said United States Attorney Stephanie Hinds. “As San Francisco’s Department of Public Works Deputy Director and then its Director, Nuru owed the people of San Francisco a duty of faithful, honest services. Instead, he betrayed that duty. For at least twelve years, Nuru shook down contractors eager for city business, trading his authority and influence for millions of dollars in cash, construction work, travel, meals, and gifts. His abhorrent conduct erodes the public’s trust in its government, and this case demonstrates the justice system can and will punish corrupt public officials.”

“Mohammed Nuru’s long-running scheme of bribes and kickbacks ultimately earned him seven years in prison. Today’s sentence sends a clear message that public officials who abuse their power for personal gain will be punished,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan. “The FBI’s investigation into this case is not over. We will continue to unravel and disrupt corruption within the city of San Francisco.”

“Corruption happens in the shadows, often with the help of professional enablers who perpetuate fraudulent schemes and the corrupt who launder and hide their illicit wealth. The Oakland Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigation has dedicated resources to unraveling the truth behind the extensive web of corruption, which Mohammed Nuru presided over, during his tenure leading the San Francisco Department of Public Works,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Mark H Pearson. “Today’s sentencing is a true reflection of the collaborative commitment between IRS-CI, the FBI, and the USAO-NDCA to protect public welfare, the people in our communities, and bring justice to light.”

In his plea agreement, Nuru admits to a pervasive corruption scheme involving bribery, kickbacks and fraud that spanned at least his last 12 years in office. During that time, Nuru sat not only as Deputy Director of Operations and then Director at DPW but also as a member of the Board of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA). Appointed to the TJPA board in 2014, Nuru eventually became his Chair. From these positions, Nuru exercised substantial power and influence over San Francisco (the City) business and policy, including its public contracts, permits, and construction projects. Nuru’s authority made him a powerful public official in the city.

Nuru’s admissions detail his broad array of graft in office, and a sample of them are below:

Walter Wong: Nuru’s corrupt relationship with San Francisco-based contractor Walter Wong began in 2008. Nuru accepted envelopes of cash containing as much as $5,000 at a time from Wong, and Wong bribed Nuru with more than $260,000 in construction labor and materials provided to Nuru’s San Francisco home and his vacation ranch property located in Stonyford in Colusa County. Wong also paid for Nuru to travel to China multiple times and to South America, footing the bill for international flights and a stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Santiago, Chile, for Nuru and his then-girlfriend Sandra Zuniga, another city official. In exchange, Nuru helped Wong secure City contracts by structuring the City’s Request for Proposals (RFPs) to ensure Wong’s company secured the contract, by providing Wong with confidential information on competitors’ bids, and by helping Wong expedite permit approvals.

Recology: Recology Inc. is a waste management company headquartered in San Francisco and the parent company of Sunset Scavenger Company, Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Company, and Recology San Francisco (collectively referred to as Recology) that provided collection and disposal services for residential and commercial customers located in the city and for the city itself. In his DPW Director’s position, Nuru presided over the process governing the rates that Recology could charge, including “tipping fee” rates that Recology charged DPW when DPW dumped materials at a Recology facility. In exchange for favorable treatment from Nuru, Nuru describes that Recology bribed him with soil delivered to his Colusa County ranch, expensive meals, and a two-night trip to New York in December 2017. At Nuru’s request, Recology also donated hundreds of thousands of Dollars to a San Francisco non-profit for a cleaning program that Nuru could access and use for other purposes, and Recology further funded DPW holiday parties with $60,000 in donations. Recology also arranged and funded the hiring of a Nuru family member.

Nick Bovis: Nuru received multiple bribes from restaurateur Nick Bovis, including free meals and entertainment for Nuru, his family, and associates at restaurants owned by Bovis and thousands of dollars in free appliances for Nuru’s ranch property. Nuru also expected tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from proceeds that Bovis would earn from City concessions or contracts awarded to Bovis. In exchange, Nuru used his official acts and influence to assist Bovis in obtaining public business and contracts with the City.

Florence Kong: Nuru accepted a gold Rolex watch valued at $36,550, cash, and an iron fence installed at Nuru’s ranch from businesswoman Florence Kong. In exchange, Nuru used his official position to benefit Kong’s businesses, including a recycling business owned by Kong.

Balmore Hernandez, William Gilmartin, & Alan Varela: In a series of bribes and kickbacks from Balmore Hernandez, William Gilmartin, and Alan Varela, Nuru received a brand new tractor for his vacation ranch, free meals, and cash. Nuru also expected to receive a portion of the proceeds from anticipated City contracts awarded to them. In exchange, Nuru exercised his official authority and influence to benefit their City business ventures.

These are just examples of some of the bribes Nuru admitted in his plea agreement. Multiple other individuals paid Nuru in exchange for favorable official acts from him.

In addition to the sentence of imprisonment, United States District Judge William H. Orrick ordered a three year term of supervision of Nuru upon his release from prison. He also ordered the forfeiture to the United States of Nuru’s vacation ranch property in Stonyford, California. Nuru will surrender to begin serving his sentence on January 6, 2023.

This case is part of a larger federal investigation targeting public corruption in the City and County of San Francisco. To date, twelve individuals and multiple corporate entities have been charged, including another high-ranking San Francisco public official, the former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly. Charges against Harlan Kelly remain pending. Multiple city contractors and facilitators have also been charged.

The case is being prosecuted by the Corporate and Securities Fraud Section of the US Attorney’s Office. The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS-CI.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s former public works director, who pleaded guilty to steering public contracts and taking pricey gifts, was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison in a corruption case that ensnared several City Hall officials and insiders.

Mohammed Nuru in January pleaded guilty to what federal prosecutors described as “a staggering amount of public corruption” during his time leading the city’s Department of Public Works. Federal prosecutors said that over a 12-year period, Nuru accepted more than $1 million in money, international trips, jewelry, restaurant meals and other goods and services from city contractors and developers in exchange for preferential treatment and confidential information about city business.

“This is a tale of greed as old as time,” federal prosecutors said in a court filing requesting that Nuru, who they described as the “quintessential grifter,” serve at least nine years in prison, get three years probation upon his release and pay $35,000 in fines to deter other officials from doing the same. Nuru’s attorneys had asked for a three-year sentence, which Judge William Orrick said didn’t “come close to recognizing the gravity of this case.”

Orrick agreed with prosecutors saying it was important for the sentence to “make clear that public corruption cannot be tolerated in a democratic society. When it’s discovered, it should come at a high cost for its practitioners.”

Orrick said he considered the good things Nuru has done in life when issuing his seven-year sentence in a packed courtroom. He also sentenced Nuru to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $35,000 in fines.

Authorities said that much of the bribe money paid to Nuru went to fund his ranch in Colusa County where he planned to retire. As part of a plea agreement, Nuru forfeited the ranch that federal prosecutors called “a monument to his grifting.”

The mortgage on the sprawling property “was partly paid by laundered bribes from city contractors, with a large home custom-built and furnished by city contractors, on grounds maintained with the help of equipment and soil provided by city contractors,” federal prosecutors said.

In exchange for his guilty plea on the fraud charge, prosecutors agreed to drop additional charges, including lying to the FBI and money laundering.

The sweeping City Hall corruption probe topped prominent leaders, including Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who is accused of receiving thousands of dollars in travel expenses, meals, jewelry and repair work on his house.

Mayor London Breed, who dated Nuru more than 20 years ago, was not charged with any crimes but admitted to receiving $5,528 for car repairs and a rental car in 2019 from him.

More than 100 family members, friends, and former colleagues sent letters of support for Nuru, who was known as Mr. Clean because of his efforts to clean San Francisco’s dirty streets, praising his dedication to his five children, who he raised as a single father, and his work for the residents of San Francisco, and describing him as kind and hard-working.

Public Works Deputy Director for Operations DiJaida Durden wrote to the judge asking for leniency for her former boss, explaining that she worked for Nuru for 19 years starting as a cement mason.

“He wanted us to take pride in how our city looks,” she wrote. “Mr. Clean certainly fit his style of working because not only did he encourage staff to take care of the city, he did it himself.”

In a four-page letter to the judge before sentencing, Nuru apologized for violating the trust of the people of San Francisco, saying his behavior left him in constant anxiety but still, he did not stop. He highlighted his health problems and asked for leniency and a second chance.

“I accept full responsibility for violating the public trust,” he wrote. “I hope and pray that the sentence will allow me to demonstrate afterwards that I have learned my lesson.”

Nuru, 59, was among the first of 12 people and three corporate entities to face federal charges due to the Department of Justice’s probe into public corruption in the city and county of San Francisco. After he was arrested in January 2020, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation and not disclose his arrest but shortly after told multiple people being investigated about the probe. He then lied to the FBI about his disclosure.

Last year, a recycling plant owner was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after stating in a plea agreement that she plied Nuru with gifts that included a $36,500 gold Rolex watch. Florence Kong, who owned SFR Recovery Inc., was the first person to be sentenced as part of a federal probe into citywide corruption. Contractor Alan Varela, who along with two fellow businessmen gave Nuru a $40,000 tractor and accessories to do work on his ranch, was sentenced to two years in prison.

The post Ex-San Francisco official sentenced to 7 years in jail appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — As a high-ranking city official, Mohammed Nuru got a $278,000 annual salary and looked forward to a lucrative retirement with a $7,000-a-month pension. Now the self-titled “Mr. Clean” will spend the next seven years in federal prison for public corruption.

“It is important that this sentence make clear that public corruption cannot be tolerated in a democratic society,” US District Judge William Orrick said, calling Nuru’s crimes among the most reprehensible he’s seen.

Nuru, who headed the city’s public works department for 12 years until his arrest in Jan. 2020, pleaded guilty to one count of honest services fraud last year, admitting he received envelopes of cash, free international trips and hotel stays, a $36,000 watch, free construction labor and materials for his vacation home and other benefits in exchange for favors to city contractors and developers.

Nuru admitted working with permit expediter Walter Wong to help a billionaire developer from China win approvals for a multimillion-dollar mixed-use development in San Francisco. The developer, who owned multiple five-star hotels, gave Nuru free travel and luxury hotel stays, high-end liquor, meals and other gifts.

In exchange, Nuru ordered subordinates to help the Chinese businessman cut through red tape and used his influence with other city officials to expedite approvals in various departments. Wong pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the public in June 2020 and agreed to cooperate with authorities. Wong’s next court date is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2023.

“You made the city’s building permitting process a farce,” Orrick chided Nuru, who stood before Orrick in a dark suit flanked by his defense attorneys. “What you did for 12 years undermines civil service and trust in government everywhere. The assumption becomes that they all do it. But they don’t all do it. But you did it. Your crime resulted from greed. And you called into question fairness of the bidding department. You have weakened the public’s confidence in our leaders.”

Nuru was eventually caught after a failed attempt at bribing an airport commissioner on behalf of disgraced restaurateur Nick Bovis, who wanted to open a concession at the San Francisco International Airport.

Prosecutors had recommended a nine-year sentence for 59-year-old Nuru, seeking to make an example out of him for undermining the public’s trust in government.

“A substantial sentence would send a message to other public officials that using their office for their own personal benefit will result in significant jail time. It also sends a message to the public that the courts and the government take this conduct very seriously and that nobody should simply accept this kind of criminal activity from their public officials,” Assistant US Attorney Alexandra Shepard told the judge.

She reminded Orrick that Nuru had been obstructed rather than helped the FBI’s investigation. Shortly after he was pulled out of the security line at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, she said he began to tip off friends who might also be targets, then later lied to the FBI about his actions.

The government’s sentencing memo casts Nuru as a rapacious power broker, insulated by a network of co-conspirators who needed his influence to win coveted city contracts.

Nuru accepted kickbacks and bribes from a number of city officials and business people, including the waste management company Recology in exchange for his help in raising the trash collection rates of San Francisco residents.

At Nuru’s request, Recology gave the former DPW director’s son a job that paid $17,000 over two years and funded a paid internship at a nonprofit that earned his son $23,600. Nuru further admitted that he told Recology executives to funnel $60,000 into a charity account that he used to pay for DPW holiday parties.

He also received $20,000 in restaurant meals and a $40,000 tractor for his vacation home from contractors William Gilmartin and Alan Varela in exchange for inside information about a city contract to build and operate an asphalt recycling plant, and $250,000 in labor and materials for his vacation home in Stonyford near Mendocino National Forest from contractor Balmore Hernandez. All three pleaded guilty to bribery.

Nuru also confessed to receiving a Rolex watch, cash and other gifts from Florence Kong, a Chinese immigrant businesswoman who Nuru helped win city contracts for her recycling company.

Shepard noted Nuru’s shakedowns occurred in tandem with another public corruption scandal that implicated former state Senator Leland Yee, who was sentenced five years in prison in 2015 for accepting bribes from undercover FBI agents. Yee also agreed to vote on certain legislation, help phony companies get state grants and contracts, and offered to import guns from a suspected terrorist group in the Philippines in exchange for campaign donations.

“It’s inexplicable that [Nuru] could see fellow politicians being arrested, convicted and sentenced for public corruption crimes and still continue,” Shepard said.

Nuru’s attorneys pleaded with Orrick for leniency, touting his long history of being a mentor and leader in the community who regularly welcomed homeless people into his home to live with him, and gave former inmates jobs.

Defense Attorney Miles Ehrlich noted the throngs of friends, family and former employees who packed the gallery, spilling into the aisles and out the door. Many of them gasped and began to cry after Orrick handed down his sentence.

Orrick said he was moved by the dozens of letters and character statements he received on Nuru’s behalf. “They speak eloquently about a man who has done really admirable work and has benefited this city,” Orrick said. “I’ve read and been moved by your stories. That is precisely what makes this sentencing so difficult.”

Turning to Nuru, he said, “You were a well regarded leader of this city and from 2008-2020 you were taking bribes and corrupting our public life.”

Outside the courtroom, Nuru hugged his supporters and brushed off requests for comment from reporters. His attorney Katherine Kates, who also declined to speak, handed out prepared statements that read: “Again, I want to apologize to the people of San Francisco for my misconduct. Now that sentencing is behind me, I plan to concentrate on my family and my health in the near term. I look forward to the time that I can return to serving my community and work to repair the damage that my actions caused both the city and my family.”

Nuru requested a surrender date in January, citing acute diabetes and a recent heart attack that required two surgeries. Orrick granted the request and set his surrender date for Jan. 6, 2023.

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The post Excessive-ranking San Francisco official sentenced to seven years for public corruption appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s former public works director, who pleaded guilty to steering public contracts and taking pricey gifts, was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison in a corruption case that ensnared several City Hall officials and insiders.

Mohammed Nuru in January pleaded guilty to what federal prosecutors described as “a staggering amount of public corruption” during his time leading the city’s Department of Public Works. Federal prosecutors said that over a 12-year period, Nuru accepted more than $1 million in money, international trips, jewelry, restaurant meals and other goods and services from city contractors and developers in exchange for preferential treatment and confidential information about city business.

“This is a tale of greed as old as time,” federal prosecutors said in a court filing requesting that Nuru, who they described as the “quintessential grifter,” serve at least nine years in prison, get three years probation upon his release and pay $35,000 in fines to deter other officials from doing the same. Nuru’s attorneys had asked for a three-year sentence, which Judge William Orrick said didn’t “come close to recognizing the gravity of this case.”

Orrick agreed with prosecutors saying it was important for the sentence to “make clear that public corruption cannot be tolerated in a democratic society. When it’s discovered, it should come at a high cost for its practitioners.”

Orrick said he considered the good things Nuru has done in life when issuing his seven-year sentence in a packed courtroom. He also sentenced Nuru to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $35,000 in fines.

FILE – Mohammed Nuru, then-director of San Francisco Public Works, is interviewed at the Tenderloin Pit Stop mobile bathrooms in San Francisco on March 19, 2015. San Francisco’s former public works director, who pleaded guilty to steering public contracts and taking pricey gifts , was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison in a corruption case that ensnared several City Hall officials and insiders. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jeff Chiu

Authorities said that much of the bribe money paid to Nuru went to fund his ranch in Colusa County where he planned to retire. As part of a plea agreement, Nuru forfeited the ranch that federal prosecutors called “a monument to his grifting.”

The mortgage on the sprawling property “was partly paid by laundered bribes from city contractors, with a large home custom-built and furnished by city contractors, on grounds maintained with the help of equipment and soil provided by city contractors,” federal prosecutors said.

In exchange for his guilty plea on the fraud charge, prosecutors agreed to drop additional charges, including lying to the FBI and money laundering.

The sweeping City Hall corruption probe topped prominent leaders, including Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who is accused of receiving thousands of dollars in travel expenses, meals, jewelry and repair work on his house.

Mayor London Breed, who dated Nuru more than 20 years ago, was not charged with any crimes but admitted to receiving $5,528 for car repairs and a rental car in 2019 from him.

More than 100 family members, friends, and former colleagues sent letters of support for Nuru, who was known as Mr. Clean because of his efforts to clean San Francisco’s dirty streets, praising his dedication to his five children, who he raised as a single father, and his work for the residents of San Francisco, and describing him as kind and hard-working.

Public Works Deputy Director for Operations DiJaida Durden wrote to the judge asking for leniency for her former boss, explaining that she worked for Nuru for 19 years starting as a cement mason.

“He wanted us to take pride in how our city looks,” she wrote. “Mr. Clean certainly fit his style of working because not only did he encourage staff to take care of the city, he did it himself.”

In a four-page letter to the judge before sentencing, Nuru apologized for violating the trust of the people of San Francisco, saying his behavior left him in constant anxiety but still, he did not stop. He highlighted his health problems and asked for leniency and a second chance.

“I accept full responsibility for violating the public trust,” he wrote. “I hope and pray that the sentence will allow me to demonstrate afterwards that I have learned my lesson.”

Nuru, 59, was among the first of 12 people and three corporate entities to face federal charges due to the Department of Justice’s probe into public corruption in the city and county of San Francisco. After he was arrested in January 2020, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation and not disclose his arrest but shortly after told multiple people being investigated about the probe. He then lied to the FBI about his disclosure.

Last year, a recycling plant owner was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after stating in a plea agreement that she plied Nuru with gifts that included a $36,500 gold Rolex watch. Florence Kong, who owned SFR Recovery Inc., was the first person to be sentenced as part of a federal probe into citywide corruption. Contractor Alan Varela, who along with two fellow businessmen gave Nuru a $40,000 tractor and accessories to do work on his ranch, was sentenced to two years in prison.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The post Ex-San Francisco official sentenced to 7 years in jail appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO – Former San Francisco City Hall public official Mohammed Colin Nuru was sentenced today to 84 months (7 years) in federal prison for honest services wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan, and Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Mark H. Pearson. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge William H. Orrick.

Nuru, 59, was first arrested on January 17, 2020, following the filing of a 79-page federal criminal complaint against him. Nuru was then the Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) and had held that position since 2011, when he was elevated from the DPW Deputy Director of Operations position that he had held since 2000. The complaint charged Nuru with honest services Fraud in public office, alleging a long-running scheme of bribes and kickbacks during his DPW tenure. A second federal complaint filed January 28, 2020, charged Nuru for lying to a federal agent following his arrest.

On January 6, 2022, Nuru pleaded guilty to the charge of defrauding the public of its right to his honest services, in violation of 18 USC §§ 1343 and 1346.

“Mohammed Nuru’s prison sentence is punishment for more than a decade of public corruption,” said United States Attorney Stephanie Hinds. “As San Francisco’s Department of Public Works Deputy Director and then its Director, Nuru owed the people of San Francisco a duty of faithful, honest services. Instead, he betrayed that duty. For at least twelve years, Nuru shook down contractors eager for city business, trading his authority and influence for millions of dollars in cash, construction work, travel, meals, and gifts. His abhorrent conduct erodes the public’s trust in its government, and this case demonstrates the justice system can and will punish corrupt public officials.”

“Mohammed Nuru’s long-running scheme of bribes and kickbacks ultimately earned him seven years in prison. Today’s sentence sends a clear message that public officials who abuse their power for personal gain will be punished,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan. “The FBI’s investigation into this case is not over. We will continue to unravel and disrupt corruption within the city of San Francisco.”

“Corruption happens in the shadows, often with the help of professional enablers who perpetuate fraudulent schemes and the corrupt who launder and hide their illicit wealth. The Oakland Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigation has dedicated resources to unraveling the truth behind the extensive web of corruption, which Mohammed Nuru presided over, during his tenure leading the San Francisco Department of Public Works,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Mark H Pearson. “Today’s sentencing is a true reflection of the collaborative commitment between IRS-CI, the FBI, and the USAO-NDCA to protect public welfare, the people in our communities, and bring justice to light.”

In his plea agreement, Nuru admits to a pervasive corruption scheme involving bribery, kickbacks and fraud that spanned at least his last 12 years in office. During that time, Nuru sat not only as Deputy Director of Operations and then Director at DPW but also as a member of the Board of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA). Appointed to the TJPA board in 2014, Nuru eventually became his Chair. From these positions, Nuru exercised substantial power and influence over San Francisco (the City) business and policy, including its public contracts, permits, and construction projects. Nuru’s authority made him a powerful public official in the city.

Nuru’s admissions detail his broad array of graft in office, and a sample of them are below:

Walter Wong: Nuru’s corrupt relationship with San Francisco-based contractor Walter Wong began in 2008. Nuru accepted envelopes of cash containing as much as $5,000 at a time from Wong, and Wong bribed Nuru with more than $260,000 in construction labor and materials provided to Nuru’s San Francisco home and his vacation ranch property located in Stonyford in Colusa County. Wong also paid for Nuru to travel to China multiple times and to South America, footing the bill for international flights and a stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Santiago, Chile, for Nuru and his then-girlfriend Sandra Zuniga, another city official. In exchange, Nuru helped Wong secure City contracts by structuring the City’s Request for Proposals (RFPs) to ensure Wong’s company secured the contract, by providing Wong with confidential information on competitors’ bids, and by helping Wong expedite permit approvals.

Recology: Recology Inc. is a waste management company headquartered in San Francisco and the parent company of Sunset Scavenger Company, Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Company, and Recology San Francisco (collectively referred to as Recology) that provided collection and disposal services for residential and commercial customers located in the city and for the city itself. In his DPW Director’s position, Nuru presided over the process governing the rates that Recology could charge, including “tipping fee” rates that Recology charged DPW when DPW dumped materials at a Recology facility. In exchange for favorable treatment from Nuru, Nuru describes that Recology bribed him with soil delivered to his Colusa County ranch, expensive meals, and a two-night trip to New York in December 2017. At Nuru’s request, Recology also donated hundreds of thousands of Dollars to a San Francisco non-profit for a cleaning program that Nuru could access and use for other purposes, and Recology further funded DPW holiday parties with $60,000 in donations. Recology also arranged and funded the hiring of a Nuru family member.

Nick Bovis: Nuru received multiple bribes from restaurateur Nick Bovis, including free meals and entertainment for Nuru, his family, and associates at restaurants owned by Bovis and thousands of dollars in free appliances for Nuru’s ranch property. Nuru also expected tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from proceeds that Bovis would earn from City concessions or contracts awarded to Bovis. In exchange, Nuru used his official acts and influence to assist Bovis in obtaining public business and contracts with the City.

Florence Kong: Nuru accepted a gold Rolex watch valued at $36,550, cash, and an iron fence installed at Nuru’s ranch from businesswoman Florence Kong. In exchange, Nuru used his official position to benefit Kong’s businesses, including a recycling business owned by Kong.

Balmore Hernandez, William Gilmartin, & Alan Varela: In a series of bribes and kickbacks from Balmore Hernandez, William Gilmartin, and Alan Varela, Nuru received a brand new tractor for his vacation ranch, free meals, and cash. Nuru also expected to receive a portion of the proceeds from anticipated City contracts awarded to them. In exchange, Nuru exercised his official authority and influence to benefit their City business ventures.

These are just examples of some of the bribes Nuru admitted in his plea agreement. Multiple other individuals paid Nuru in exchange for favorable official acts from him.

In addition to the sentence of imprisonment, United States District Judge William H. Orrick ordered a three year term of supervision of Nuru upon his release from prison. He also ordered the forfeiture to the United States of Nuru’s vacation ranch property in Stonyford, California. Nuru will surrender to begin serving his sentence on January 6, 2023.

This case is part of a larger federal investigation targeting public corruption in the City and County of San Francisco. To date, twelve individuals and multiple corporate entities have been charged, including another high-ranking San Francisco public official, the former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly. Charges against Harlan Kelly remain pending. Multiple city contractors and facilitators have also been charged.

The case is being prosecuted by the Corporate and Securities Fraud Section of the US Attorney’s Office. The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS-CI.

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