A former chief of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine after being found guilty of various fraud and conspiracy crimes, federal prosecutors this week.
After a 12-day jury trial, Harlan Kelly Jr., 61, was convicted on July 14, 2023 of being involved in an honest services fraud bribery conspiracy and a different bank fraud scheme and conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement Monday.
Evidence showed that for over six years, Kelly received a stream of bribes from a contractor seeking to be awarded millions of dollars in contracts while he was at the helm of the SFPUC. He was found guilty of accepting the bribes which included payments for a lavish vacation to Hong Kong and China, construction work on this house, and other benefits.
“Further, the evidence demonstrated that in return for bribes, Kelly used his official position to provide aid to a contractor by providing the contractor with internal, confidential PUC documents related to the contract being sought,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Kelly was also convicted of participating in a separate bank fraud conspiracy after a jury determined that both he and his 65-year-old co-conspirator Victor Makras, of San Francisco, took steps to defraud Quicken Loans as part of a $1.3 million mortgage loan application. Both Kelly and Makras were convicted of bank fraud and false statements for their respective roles in the scheme, federal prosecutors said.
“By abusing his position and violating his duty of trust, Harlan Kelly betrayed the people of the City of San Francisco in service to his personal greed.” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robbins
“By abusing his position and violating his duty of trust, Harlan Kelly betrayed the people of the City of San Francisco in service to his personal greed,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robbins, who added that Kelly’s sentence sends a “clear message that public officials who violate their oath of office and betray their duty as public stewards will be held accountable.”
Besides his prison term and fine, Kelly is also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term. He is expected to begin serving his sentence on June 19.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Kelly’s sentencing is the latest in its six-year investigation into public corruption in San Francisco. To date, over a dozen individuals and two corporations have pleaded guilty or admitted involvement in corruption schemes.