Mohammed Nuru, former director of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for honest services wire fraud on Thursday. His case is at the center of a wide-reaching corruption investigation that includes two former Recology employees, among many other city officials and contractors.
“Mohammed Nuru’s prison sentence is punishment for more than a decade of public corruption,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds in a statement. “For at least twelve years, Nuru shook down contractors eager for city business, trading his authority and influence for millions of dollars in cash, construction work, travel, meals, and gifts.”
In a decision by U.S. District Judge William Orrick, Nuru must also forfeit his vacation ranch property in Stonyford, California, and he will have three years of supervision upon release. Nuru is set to begin his sentence on Jan. 6, 2023, exactly one year after he pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge.
Prosecutors had been seeking nine years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $35,000 fine and the forfeiture of Nuru’s ranch. Nuru’s attorneys sought a lesser sentence of three years in prison and forfeiture of the ranch.
Nuru, nicknamed “Mr. Clean,” was a well-known figure in the community working on neighborhood cleanups and related initiatives. Multiple people, including the city’s current deputy director of public works, wrote letters defending his character, but federal prosecutors dubbed him a “quintessential grifter.”
According to Nuru’s prior guilty plea, he admitted to taking bribes from multiple entities with business before DPW for an extended period.
The conduct with Recology, San Francisco’s largest waste and recycling service provider, included “a steady stream of financial and other benefits to Nuru to ensure that he would help their business as opportunities arose.” Prosecutors say this occurred from 2014 until January 2020 in exchange for favorable treatment regarding collection rate increases and higher tipping fees at a company facility.
The bribes from Recology to Nuru — in the form of donations to related nonprofits, funding for annual holiday parties and other actions — had previously been valued at more than $1 million.
From Nuru’s standpoint, his relationship with Recology was different than that of others involved in the conspiracy because the majority of the financial benefits went to other entities — other than free soil Recology delivered to his ranch. Federal prosecutors had a different view, saying, for example, that Recology’s donations went to something that was “not actually a holiday party for DPW employees, but a vehicle for Nuru to showcase his power and influence in the City.”
According to Nuru’s attorneys, he was first approached by FBI agents at a New York airport in the fall of 2019 and initially agreed to cooperate. Nuru later changed his mind, alerted others to the investigation and initially lied about doing so. Federal prosecutors say this “caused incalculable damage to the investigation.” Nuru was arrested in January 2020 and is now cooperating.
Recology’s San Francisco group and two now-former employees were charged with conspiring to bribe Nuru. While Recology must pay more than $100 million in ratepayer reimbursements and penalties, it avoided legal action through a deferred prosecution agreement. San Francisco voters recently approved a ballot measure that will affect procedures related to setting collection rates.
Paul Giusti, former government and community relations manager for the company’s San Francisco group, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bribe a local official and commit honest services fraud in August 2021 and is cooperating.
John Porter, former vice president and manager of Recology’s San Francisco group, faced related charges but did not plead guilty. He was indicted on alleged bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery last month, a sign that he has likely not agreed to cooperate.
Following Porter’s indictment, the Department of Justice moved to consolidate both cases under one judge, and a status conference on Giusti’s sentencing was moved to February 2023. A status conference in Porter’s case is scheduled for Sept. 8. Attorneys for Giusti and Porter did not respond to requests for comment on Nuru’s sentencing.
According to a statement from FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan, “the investigation into this case is not over,” and the agency intends “to unravel and disrupt corruption within the city of San Francisco.”
