Vallejo employee pleads guilty to bribery

A former maintenance manager for Vallejo pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges of soliciting bribes from city contractors in a scheme to steal thousands of dollars in community block grant funds, prosecutors said.

Donald Burton, 51, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on Nov. 7 in federal court in Sacramento, officials said.

While working for the Public Works Engineering Division in Vallejo, Burton sought a 10 percent kickback from the owner of a maintenance company in exchange for steering contracts to the company, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

As part of his job, Burton handled city agreements for landscaping and capital improvements. Over the course of Burton’s employment, the city received substantial federal funding, including more than $500,000 in community block grants, according to prosecutors.

The business owner tipped off the FBI to Burton’s bribery scheme and participated in a sting targeting Burton, officials said.

Burton, of Fairfield, was arrested on June 7 after he was caught on tape offering landscape work to the business owner in exchange for kickbacks, according to the FBI.

Prosecutors said that in some cases Burton also instructed business owners to pad the allotted number of days required for each job from 10 to 15 as a means of boosting his and the company’s take.