Orinda man sentenced in bribery case
The former president of an Oakland construction management firm on Thursday was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $127,000 fine for his role in what federal prosecutors described as a seven-year conspiracy to bribe former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.
The sentencing comes nearly four months after Alan Varela, 60, of Orinda, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit honest services wire fraud, becoming the latest to face prison time in connection to a far-reaching City Hall corruption scandal.
Prosecutors say Varela, founder and then-president of ProVen Management, helped funnel a “stream of benefits” to Nuru, including $20,000 in meals and a $40,000 tractor to use at his vacation ranch in Colusa County.
In exchange, Nuru used his official position to help ProVen win a lucrative contract to build and operate an asphalt recycling plant on land owned by the Port of San Francisco.
ProVen Management’s former vice president, William Gilmartin, 61, of San Mateo, also has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
In his plea agreement, Varela admitted that the conspiracy spanned from 2013 until the day of Nuru’s arrest on federal charges Jan. 27, 2020.
Federal prosecutors said Nuru sent the defendants early drafts of the city’s requests for proposals and other insider information to boost their likelihood of being selected for the contracts. These discussions often occurred over pricey dinners, paid for by Gilmartin, which ultimately added up to about $20,000.
Court documents state that it was also during one of these meetings that Nuru requested the tractor for his ranch, which, along with its attachments, cost $40,000.
Varela was the one who lined up the purchase of the tractor, prosecutors said, and “rushed to get it delivered to
Nuru’s ranch” in 2019. Nuru responded with a text saying “work begins at the ranch,” along with a photo of the tractor being unloaded onto his property, prosecutors said.
Nuru was arrested and charged by federal officials last year for an alleged attempt to bribe a San Francisco airport commissioner in a probe that has since exposed a sprawling pay-to-play and corruption scheme within City Hall. Nuru is one of 11 city employees, contractors or facilitators who have been charged to date, and it’s unclear whether the case will continue to grow.
Court hearings for Nuru have been delayed several times over the past year, partly because of the pandemic. Nuru, who has not pleaded guilty, is next due in court Sept. 28.