San Leandro Councilman Charged in Oakland Corruption Probe

Federal prosecutors charged San Leandro City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo with conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud and making false statements, alleging he participated in a bribery and kickback scheme to steer city business to an Oakland-based prefabricated shipping-container home company. Court documents say Azevedo accepted a $2,000 cash payment in November 2023, opened an LLC and a bank account in his wife’s name to receive payments, and agreed to take a percentage of unit sales. Prosecutors allege he lobbied San Leandro officials—advocating an emergency shelter ordinance, touring model units and pushing the city to purchase the container homes—and attended an all-expenses-paid delegation trip to Vietnam paid by co-conspirators. The complaint alleges he lied to FBI agents and that the FBI searched his home in January; he has not been arrested and did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The charges are tied to a broader federal probe that has implicated Oakland businessmen David and Andy Duong and former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao; Azevedo faces up to 25 years in prison and fines up to $500,000, and the case is being handled by prosecutors involved in the related Thao matters.