Prosecutors allege Azevedo agreed to safe a contract for a housing firm in trade for his personal monetary acquire. They mentioned he opened an LLC in his spouse’s identify and established a checking account for receiving bribery funds.
When questioned by federal brokers, he lied, they allege.
Azevedo pleaded not responsible to the costs at a Nov. 12 arraignment. A court docket submitting a few week earlier had hinted that prosecutors have been near reaching a take care of Azevedo at the moment, or already had.
“The federal government and Azevedo are near reaching a decision of his case and don’t anticipate contested pretrial litigation or a trial,” the submitting reads. “There are unlikely to be additional substantive hearings till a possible change of plea or sentencing listening to.”
Azevedo’s case is formally associated to that of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and three others charged in a January 2025 indictment alleging a bribery scheme, that means the entire defendants will seem earlier than the identical decide. Additionally indicted in that case have been Thao’s accomplice, Andre Jones, and father and son businessmen David and Andy Duong, whose household owns Oakland’s recycling contractor, California Waste Options.
In an Oct. 28 submitting, U.S. attorneys described a conspiracy by which Azevedo agreed to just accept a bribe following his participation in a visit through the summer time of 2023 to Vietnam sponsored by an unnamed enterprise affiliation. The enterprise affiliation allegedly paid Azevedo’s bills, together with enterprise class airfare, lodging and meals, for round 10 days.
After the journey, the submitting reads, Azevedo met with two unnamed people and allegedly agreed to make use of his energy as a councilmember to assist receive a metropolis contract for a housing firm in trade for a share of the gross sales value from no matter items the town of San Leandro finally bought from the corporate.
Prosecutors allege that in or round September 2023, Azevedo created an LLC in his spouse’s identify and organized for a checking account to be opened for the aim of receiving bribes and kickback funds from the 2 people.
At a November dinner in Alameda, one of many people allegedly gave Azevedo $2,000 in money. He deposited the cash into the just lately opened checking account, prosecutors say.
The submitting alleges Azevedo advocated for an emergency homelessness ordinance that will have benefitted the housing firm, and later voted in favor of it. The town council finally voted to take no motion on the ordinance.
The submitting additionally alleges Azevedo took members of San Leandro’s authorities to tour its mannequin items and advocated for the town buying these items.
And, it describes a one-hour interview throughout which prosecutors say Azevedo lied to federal brokers in response to questions on whether or not he acquired money funds and whether or not the household of one of many unnamed people had enterprise pursuits earlier than the town.
