A San Francisco judge sentenced former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru to seven years for his involvement in a corruption scandal.
Nuru also has to pay a $35,000 fine and give up his 20-acre ranch with a custom home in Stonybrook, California.
Nuru’s defense released a statement that says that the former public works director apologizes to the people of San Francisco for his actions. His current plan is to focus on his family and health now that his case is over.
“This is a tale of greed as old as time,” federal prosecutors said in a court filing requesting that Nuru serve at least nine years in prison, get three years probation upon his release, and pay $35,000 in fines. This is to prevent other officials from doing any misdeeds.
Nuru’s attorneys asked for a 3-year sentence but Judge William Orrick said it didn’t “come close to recognizing the gravity of this case.”
Orrick agreed with the prosecutors that the sentence is to “make clear that public corruption cannot be tolerated in a democratic society. When it’s discovered, it should come at a high cost for its practitioners.”
Prosecutors say Nuru’s 20-acre ranch in Colusa County “is truly a monument to his grifting,” that it was built by those vying for city contracts, and that bribes helped pay his mortgage. Nuru also received $36,000 for “Rolex, luxury international vacations, envelopes of cash, and splashy holiday parties for City VIPs.”
Developers, contractors, a restaurant owner, two recology executives, and Nuru’s girlfriend were also charged in the case.
