东湾开发商父子被起诉：被指向市议员行贿、把5,000美元现金藏进旅行杯
美国司法部加州北区检察官办公室2025年4月22日宣布，一份两项起诉书当日解封，指控东湾房地产开发商戴维·桑森（David Sanson）与特伦特·桑森（Trent Sanson）父子共谋行贿与行贿：两人被指先提出向加州康特拉科斯塔县安条克市（Antioch）一名市议员支付10,000美元，其后又把5,000美元现金藏进一只印有公司标志的旅行杯交给对方，以换取对方为其开发项目提供有利处理。这名议员此前已把涉嫌行贿一事报告联邦调查局（FBI），两名被告当日在奥克兰联邦法院首次出庭。
起诉书于2025年4月3日提交。司法部说，戴维·桑森现年60岁、住蒙大拿州菲利普斯堡，是总部位于加州康科德市的一家房屋建筑与开发公司的业主兼首席执行官；其子特伦特·桑森现年33岁、住核桃溪市，任公司副总裁。该公司在安条克及周边有多个项目，包括多期开发、共533户住宅的Aviano项目。
据起诉书，安条克市工程与发展服务部门认定该公司尚未完成全部所需的公共基础设施改进，Aviano第三期在改进完成前不应被认定完工或获市议会批准，市政府因此没有批准释放该项目的保证金。为推动认定完工并释放保证金，特伦特·桑森被指于2024年5月29日通过iMessage联系这名市议员，称想讨论公司在安条克多个项目上面对工程部门的问题，其中包括Aviano第三期。
起诉书描述了两次被录像的会面：2024年6月12日，特伦特·桑森被指要求议员把「接受Aviano第三期、释放竣工与担保保证金」列入市议会议程并投票赞成，并称戴维·桑森愿意为此支付议员10,000美元；2024年6月20日的第二次会面上，戴维·桑森被指把5,000美元现金藏进一只印有桑森父子开发公司标志的旅行咖啡杯，交给了这名议员。
代理联邦检察官帕特里克·罗宾斯（Patrick D. Robbins）说，这份起诉书指控两名被告企图贿赂安条克市议员为其房地产项目采取有利行动、逃避市政府要求的公共基础设施改进；FBI旧金山外勤办公室负责人桑贾伊·维尔马尼（Sanjay Virmani）说，企图贿赂公职人员是对政府廉洁与社区信任的公然攻击。两人各被控一项共谋行贿罪（《美国法典》第18编第371条）与一项涉及接受联邦资金项目的行贿罪（第666(a)(2)条），若定罪，共谋罪最高可判5年监禁、行贿罪最高可判10年监禁；两人定于2025年6月12日在联邦地区法官伊冯娜·冈萨雷斯·罗杰斯（Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers）席前出庭进行状态会议。本案由FBI调查，助理联邦检察官托马斯·格林（Thomas R. Green）与本杰明·克莱因曼（Benjamin K. Kleinman）承办。起诉书只是指控，两名被告在被证明有罪之前推定无罪。（来源：美国司法部加州北区检察官办公室）
East Bay Developer Father and Son Charged With Bribing City Councilmember, $5,000 Cash Hidden in a Travel Mug
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced on April 22, 2025, that a two-count indictment unsealed that day charged East Bay property developers David Sanson and Trent Sanson, a father and son, with conspiracy and bribery: offering to pay an Antioch City Councilmember in Contra Costa County, California, $10,000, and later giving the councilmember a company travel mug containing $5,000 in cash, in exchange for favorable treatment for one of their development projects. The councilmember had reported the alleged bribe to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and both defendants made their initial appearances in federal court in Oakland that morning.
The indictment was filed on April 3, 2025. According to the Justice Department, David Sanson, 60, of Philipsburg, Montana, is the owner and chief executive officer of a home building and development company based in Concord, California, and his son Trent Sanson, 33, of Walnut Creek, is the company's vice president. The company has a number of projects in Antioch and neighboring areas, including the Aviano project, a multi-phase, 533-unit residential development.
According to the indictment, the Antioch Engineering and Development Services Division had indicated that the company had not completed all of its required public infrastructure improvements and that Phase 3 of Aviano should not be deemed complete or approved by the City Council until those improvements were finished, so the city had not approved the release of the bonds secured for the project. To press for a completion finding and the release of the bonds, Trent Sanson allegedly contacted the councilmember by iMessage on May 29, 2024, saying he wanted to discuss issues the company was facing with Antioch's engineering department on a number of projects, including Phase 3 of Aviano.
The indictment describes two video-recorded meetings. On June 12, 2024, Trent Sanson allegedly asked the councilmember to place on the City Council agenda, and vote in favor of, "acceptance for Phase 3 at Aviano to release the completion and guarantee bonds," and said David Sanson was willing to pay the councilmember $10,000 in exchange. At a second meeting on June 20, 2024, David Sanson allegedly paid the councilmember $5,000 in cash concealed in a travel coffee mug branded with the logo of the Sansons' development company.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins said the indictment alleges the defendants tried to bribe an Antioch City Councilmember to take favorable action on their real estate project and to evade making the public infrastructure improvements the city required; FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani called attempting to bribe a public official "a blatant attack on the integrity of our government." Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery (18 U.S.C. § 371) and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds (18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(2)), carrying maximum penalties of five years and 10 years in prison respectively if convicted. The defendants were next scheduled to appear on June 12, 2025, for a status conference before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas R. Green and Benjamin K. Kleinman. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California)
来源：美国司法部加州北区检察官办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于加州奥克兰的罗纳德·戴勒姆斯联邦大楼（资料图），本案起诉书在此解封、两名被告在此首次出庭。图：Urbanist471，CC BY-SA 4.0，via Wikimedia Commons / Photo: The Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, California (file photo), where the indictment was unsealed and both defendants made their initial appearances. Photo: Urbanist471, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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