Former San Francisco building inspector gets one-year sentence in bribery case

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A former plan-checker for San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison Friday for accepting bribes from local developers in exchange for approving building designs.

Rodolfo “Rudy” Pada, 70, pleaded guilty in December 2023 to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, admitting he accepted more than $40,000 in bribes over 14 years while working at the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection to approve plans and expedite permits.

Pada also admitted to taking more than $6,800 in bribes over 18 months to approve inspections while working for a private consulting firm that served small municipalities, including Millbrae, California.

At sentencing, Pada, wearing a gray suit and accompanied by his attorney and a translator, asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to allow him to serve his sentence at home, citing serious medical issues and reliance on his family for care.

“ Your honor, with your kindness, I ask to stay home with my family, with my wife. She is very supportive and concerned, worried about my health,” he said.

“I am very scared to go to jail,” he added. “If I got chest pain, how would they bring me to the emergency [room]? At home, the hospital is five minutes away, my wife can drive me. That is my concern.”

Illston declined to sentence Pada to home detention but said she would notify the Bureau of Prisons of his medical needs and issue an order to ensure he receives appropriate care. She also agreed to recommend that he be housed at a facility near his family’s home.

“I do think it is important to sentence in accordance with the seriousness of the offenses that are committed here,” she said. “I do intend to commit a sentence of 12 months and a day.”

Along with the prison sentence, Pada will be required to pay a $10,000 fine. He will not have to be under supervised release once he completes his sentence.

Pada will be required to voluntarily surrender by May 28, 2026.

Representatives for either party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Ward recommended a sentence of 12 months and a day, emphasizing Pada’s 14-year history of accepting bribes at DBI, coupled with his continued behavior after he began working for the construction consulting company.

“Corruption was a way of life for Mr. Pada, and that is something the court needs to take into account,” Ward said. “Building inspectors play a key role in keeping buildings safe. They are the first line of defense to make sure people are safe in their homes and offices … shortcuts put these people at risk and disadvantage honest people who play by the rules.”

Ward highlighted Pada’s cooperation with prosecutors, including information that led to the prosecution of Millbrae construction builder Alvin Yang, and said the government does not believe Pada is likely to reoffend.

Pada’s attorney, Jim Reilly of Summit Defense, urged Illston to impose a sentence below the government’s recommended 12 months, arguing that Pada was initially “naive and gullible” and “taken advantage of” by people with more experience than him.

He also stressed Pada’s medical issues, saying that he was concerned about how prison would affect Pada’s health.

“We appreciate the fact that prison will provide medical care as needed, but we have concerns about his ability to deal with that situation, especially because he has trouble with it now at home and needs assistance from his wife,” Reilly said.

In November 2023, prosecutors charged Pada and another former plan checker, Cyril Yu, with accepting bribes from developers Siavash Tahbazof, his nephew Bahman Ghassemzadeh, and Reza Khoshnevisan.

All three developers pleaded guilty to fraud. Illston sentenced Tahbazof and Ghassemzadeh to three years of probation in April 2024, ordering Tahbazof to pay a $75,000 fine and Ghassemzadeh and Khoshnevisan to each pay $25,000.

Pada’s sentencing marks the final case in a sweeping anti-corruption probe of the San Francisco city government that began with the 2020 arrest of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.

“Today’s sentence brings to a close my Office’s long-running investigation into corruption at the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection and beyond. Public corruption erodes faith in government and victimizes entire communities. We have zero tolerance for public officials who allow greed and self-interest to override their duty to the people they serve,” said United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian.

Nuru is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence and is scheduled to be released in December 2027. His co-defendant, restaurateur Nick Bovis, was sentenced to nine months in prison, but allowed to leave early to serve the remainder of his term at home due to the substandard medical care he was receiving while incarcerated, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Bernie Curran, a senior inspector with the Department of Building Inspections, pleaded guilty to bribery charges and was sentenced to a year in prison in July 2023. Less than three months later, Curran pled guilty to state charges of felony perjury and misdemeanor financial conflict of interest and was sentenced to an additional two years in prison, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He was released from prison in May 2024.

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