Bryan Azevedo, Accepting Bribes, California 2026

Former San Leandro City Council Member Bryan Azevedo, 49, of San Leandro, California, pleaded guilty in federal court today to engaging in a conspiracy to accept bribes in exchange for using his official position to obtain favorable treatment and city contracts for a housing company, and to lying to federal investigators.

Azevedo was charged by information on October 20, 2025, with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and one count of making a false statement to federal investigators. He pleaded guilty to both counts. In connection with his plea, Azevedo admitted that in the summer of 2023, he attended a delegation trip to Vietnam sponsored by a business association controlled by the family of an individual identified in the information as Co-Conspirator 1.

The business association paid all of Azevedo’s expenses for that trip, including business class airfare, hotel, and meals for approximately 10 days. After the Vietnam trip, Azevedo agreed with Co-Conspirator 1 and an individual identified as Co-Conspirator 2 that Azevedo would use his official position to advocate on behalf of their modular housing company with other members of San Leandro City government, to take city council votes that would benefit their modular housing company, and to ensure that the City of San Leandro purchased housing units from the modular housing company.

In exchange, Co-Conspirator 1 and Co-Conspirator 2 agreed that Azevedo would receive a percentage of the sales price from all modular housing company units the City of San Leandro ultimately purchased. To help conceal the expected future payments, Co-Conspirator 1 and Co-Conspirator 2 instructed Azevedo to open an LLC and bank account in his wife’s name for the purpose of receiving the kickback payments and avoiding detection.

Azevedo admitted that he took several steps in his official capacity to benefit the modular housing company between August 2023 and June 2024 in exchange for the payment received and the promise of future payments. Specifically, during a city council meeting on June 17, 2024, Azevedo voted in favor of an emergency shelter ordinance, as instructed by Co-Conspirator 1. In addition, Azevedo advocated for the emergency shelter ordinance with members of San Leandro City government, took members of San Leandro City government to tour model units, and advocated for the purchase of the modular housing company’s units by the City of San Leandro.

Azevedo is next scheduled to appear in district court on December 3, 2026, for a status hearing before District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Azevedo faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the honest services fraud count and a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the false statement count.

The case is the result of a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Stephen M. Sherwood made the announcement.

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