Embattled San Leandro City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty yesterday to federal corruption charges a day after he resigned his city role.
Before a federal judge in Oakland, Azevedo plead guilty to accepting a $2,000 bribe from Oakland businessmen and lying to federal agents.
Azevedo, who was elected to the council in 2020, could be sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined a half-million dollars.
During the brief hearing, Azevedo changed his not guilty plea and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in their ongoing investigation that two Oakland businessmen bribed former Mayor Sheng Thao and other East Bay elected officials.
Azevedo’s home was raided by the FBI last November.
The Oaklandside reports that Azevedo could implicate other Oakland officials, including at least one unnamed city council member, in a conspiracy to help the businessmen, who appear to be David and Andy Duong.
They are the owners of California Waste Solutions, the city’s main garbage disposal contractor – who hoped to win millions of dollars in contracts to build modular homes as shelters for the local homeless.
The Duongs sponsored a trade delegation, including Azevedo and Thao, to Vietnam three years ago.
