Bay Area housing developers charged with bribery of elected official
In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, David Sanson, 60, of Philipsburg, Mont., and his son, Trent Sanson, 33, of Walnut Creek, were accused of bribing the unnamed council member in June after a planning agency in the East Bay community opposed approval of the 533-unit Aviano housing development.
The pair owned DeNova Homes, a Concord-based company with a 35-year history of building housing developments in cities across the Bay Area.
Staff members of Antioch's Engineering and Development Services Division said the Sansons' company had not completed infrastructure work needed for the project. According to the indictment, the Sansons disagreed with that assessment and, after failing to convince the agency, contacted the council member.
Prosecutors said Trent Sanson met with the council member on June 12 and said his father was willing to pay $10,000 to put the project on the council's agenda and win approval.
According to the indictment, Trent Sanson told the council member on that day: 'You're not going to see anything directly, but Dave will be doing something for you.' He then told the council member that his father would likely give them $5,000 in cash and another $5,000 as a donation to a political action committee or as an independent expenditure, such as a campaign flyer.
On June 20, David Sanson met with the council member and handed over a coffee mug that bore DeNova's insignia and contained $5,000 in cash, the indictment said.
But before both meetings, the indictment said, the council member had contacted the FBI, which recorded the meetings on video.
The Sansons have been charged with bribery and conspiracy, both felonies, and made their first appearances in federal court on Tuesday.
'Attempting to bribe a public official is a blatant attack on the integrity of our government and the trust of the communities we serve,' Sanjay Virmani, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, said in a statement announcing the indictment.
In response, David Sanson's lawyer, Winston Chan, said, 'We are confident the facts will show that Dave is innocent, and that he was unfairly targeted without cause to be dragged out of near retirement from out-of-state, to be trapped into a web of deceit manufactured to 'take down' Dave and his family.'
DeNova Homes said it was not implicated in the case and that David Sanson is no longer involved in the company's 'leadership or daily operations.'
'DeNova remains financially sound and fully focused on delivering for our customers, partners, and communities without disruption,' said its chief legal officer, Dana Tsubota.
DeNova lists ongoing projects in Martinez, Livermore, Sonoma, Oakley, Rio Vista and Davis. The property developers also say that there are new communities of homes coming soon to Calistoga and Morgan Hill.
DeNova Homes has previous projects across California, including in Santa Clara, Alameda, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Calaveras counties, as well as down the central coast and south into Orange County.
The company has had the most projects in Contra Costa County, with 13 communities built there, including four in Antioch.
The council members who served in June — then Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe, Monica Wilson, Tamisha Torres-Walker, Michael Barbanica and Lori Ogorchock — could not immediately be reached for comment. Only Wilson and Torres-Walker are still on the council.
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