Former San Leandro City Councilman Bryan Azevedo pleads guilty in federal corruption probe

OAKLAND – Former San Leandro City Councilman Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty Wednesday to accepting a $2,000 bribe and then lying about it to federal agents, marking the first conviction in a widening East Bay political corruption scandal that has also implicated a former Oakland mayor.

Azevedo — who resigned from the San Leandro City Council as of Tuesday, nearly a year into his second term — said nothing during Wednesday’s court hearing, except to acquiesce to U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and seal the deal.

Dressed in a dark blue suit with no tie and an American flag pin on his badge, Azevedo pleaded guilty to the exact same charges he was charged with last year: Conspiracy to defraud and perjury against a government agency. He faces up to 20 years in prison on one count of conspiracy and five years on the other – although it is unlikely he will serve that much time, given his lack of prior criminal history and his cooperation with federal prosecutors in the other case.

His bid ends a fall from grace for the two-term councilman, a steelhead who won a City Council election in 2020 before watching his political fortunes slowly fade in recent years. He narrowly missed out on re-election in November 2024 — capturing the race by less than 500 votes — before becoming embroiled in the biggest political corruption scandal to hit the East Bay in decades.

Now he can be a witness for federal prosecutors as they continue to build their case against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.

The ex-mayor is accused of accepting bribes from Andy Duong and his father, David, in the form of help paying controversial election agents ahead of the November 2022 election, as well as a lucrative no-show job for his lover Andre Jones. In return, prosecutors said, Thao promised a number of political favors to the Duong family, including new city contracts for a real estate startup co-founded by David Duong, and the Duongs’ recycling firm, California Waste Solutions.

Thao, Jones and the Duongs have all pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy, bribery and fraud. Each of them faces decades in prison when their trial opens on October 19.

Federal prosecutors say Azevedo was part of a similar scheme in San Leandro.

Prosecutors say Azevedo received a $2,000 bribe in November 2023 from another owner of a real estate company, Evolutionary Homes. In exchange, Azevedo agreed to use his influence on the City Council to help the company secure city contracts for housing, according to federal charging documents.

Before the bribery allegations, Azevedo set up a limited liability company in his wife’s name, federal court records show. The councilor then opened a bank account at the behest of Evolutionary Homes leaders, all in order to receive additional compensation once the housing contracts were signed, state prosecutors said.

After that, Azevedo forced other council members to pass an emergency ordinance that would have made the housing deal easier to implement, prosecutors said. At one point, federal authorities suggested Azevedo even went so far as to coordinate tours of the housing company’s model units at its Oakland waterfront showroom, records show.

Until Wednesday, Azevedo had maintained his innocence in increasingly heated media interviews.

In one interview, he denied ever having prostitutes or using drugs during a summer 2023 trip to Vietnam with a large delegation of East Bay elected officials, despite not being directly asked about it. He said he only received massages when he was in Southeast Asia as part of a delegation, which included the Duongs, Thao and other East Bay officials.

He also called Andy Duong a “great guy” and a longtime friend while speaking to ABC7 News. When pressed directly about any possible arrangement between him and Evolutionary Homes, Azevedo said, “I don’t remember anything, there was no arrangement for that.”

Check back for updates on this developing story.

Jakob Rodgers is a leading news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message with Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.