A San Luis Obispo-based real estate development executive accused of paying a local politician nearly $95,000 in bribes and gifts was sentenced on Nov. 12 to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a charge connected to wire fraud.
Ryan Wright, 38—also known as Ryan Petetit—of Grover Beach, California, was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. Anderson also scheduled a restitution hearing for Jan. 27, 2025.
Wright was arrested in October 2023. A federal grand jury indicted him on charges of conspiracy, falsifying records, and obstructing justice for allegedly bribing Adam Hill, a former San Luis Obispo County supervisor, with cash and gifts in exchange for favorable votes for Wright’s company’s projects.
Wright, who was a managing member of PB Companies LLC, was suspected of conspiring with his business partner from at least June 2014 to at least March 2017 to bribe Hill with nearly $95,000 in gifts and money, according to the indictment.
The real estate development business had multiple projects in the works in 2014, including several in the city and county of San Luis Obispo, located on the Central California coast, federal prosecutors claimed.
Prosecutors claimed that Hill advocated for Wright’s real estate development company’s projects and future projects with San Luis Obispo officials and voted in favor of the projects on the county’s board of supervisors.
“Hill voted on matters appearing before the Board of Supervisors, including budget bills that affected the city, and by virtue of his elected position, had influence over matters occurring within the city and in the city’s departments and commissions,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a press release on Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors also claim Hill allegedly used his official position to advise and influence other public officials who were deciding on the fate of PB Companies’ projects, including city officials and people serving on city commissions.
Wright then allegedly covered up the bribes by using Hill’s consulting company to funnel and conceal payments to him, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
The county supervisor then gave false information on his 2015 and 2016 state conflict-of-interest disclosure forms that require elected officials to report income received.
Federal authorities claim that Wright allegedly paid bribes through Hill’s shell company 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, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
To conceal the scheme, Wright allegedly prompted the company to give false records to the FBI.
San Luis Obispo City Hall on July 18, 2024. (Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times)
Wright pleaded guilty on Sept. 13 to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
According to the U.S. Criminal Code, “honest services fraud” refers to a scheme “to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.” The “intangible right,” in this case, was the right to open and faithful service by government officials such as Hill, the San Luis Obispo county supervisor. Honest services fraud is an extension of the mail fraud and wire fraud statute.
The FBI served the county with a warrant in connection to the investigation in March 2020.
Hill died in August 2020 of an intentional overdose of cocaine and anti-depressant medication, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune. He was 54. He was elected as a county supervisor in 2009 to represent portions of the city of San Luis Obispo and communities within the county. At the time of his suicide, he was under a federal investigation for corruption and bribery.
Wright and his business partner John Belsher have been the subject of multiple lawsuits, with allegations including breach of contract, failure to compensate contractors, and fraud.
The Epoch Times reached out to Wright’s lawyer for comment but received no reply by publication time.
