LOS ANGELES – An executive at a San Luis Obispo-based real estate development company was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment alleging he paid a local politician more than $95,000 in bribes and gifts in exchange for official acts benefiting the company’s development projects and then covered up the bribery scheme by forging documents.
Ryan Wright, 37, a.k.a. “Ryan Petetit,” of Grover Beach, was arrested this morning on a three-count indictment charging him with conspiracy, falsification of records, and obstruction of justice. The indictment was returned on October 4 and was unsealed today.
Wright is expected to make his initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the indictment, from at least June 2014 to May 2017, Wright conspired with his business partner, identified in court documents as “Co-Conspirator 1,” to bribe an elected official identified as “County Supervisor 1” with financial benefits, including money and gifts totaling more than $95,000. In exchange, County Supervisor 1 advocated for Wright’s real estate development company’s projects and prospective projects with City of San Luis Obispo officials and voted for Wright’s company’s projects on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors.
Wright, Co-Conspirator 1, and County Supervisor 1 then covered up the bribes by using County Supervisor 1’s consulting company to funnel and conceal bribe payments to County Supervisor 1. County Supervisor 1 then provided false information on his 2015 and 2016 annual state conflict of interest disclosure forms requiring him to report income he had received. Through the consulting company, Wright allegedly paid bribes to County Supervisor 1 and flew him on a jet to watch a Major League Baseball playoff game hosted by the San Francisco Giants, the supervisor’s favorite team.
To conceal the scheme, in response to a federal grand jury subpoena served on his development company, Wright allegedly caused the company to produce falsified records to the FBI.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
If convicted of all charges, Wright would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy count, a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the obstruction of justice count, and up to 20 years in federal prison for the falsification of records count.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas F. Rybarczyk and Daniel J. O’Brien of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting this case.
