Corrupt dealings: Another DOJ indictment comes forward in the pay-to-play allegations involving late supervisor Adam Hill 

Legal troubles for a former executive of a San Luis Obispo development company hit a crescendo with a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment after being embroiled in criminal and civil cases for the better part of a decade.

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• Cover Images From Adobe Stock; Cover Courtesy Photo By Alex Zuniga
• FRAUD FEST Based on the U.S. Department of Justice's latest indictment against former colleagues of late supervisor Adam Hill, he enjoyed cars, cash, sports games, travel, and plush accommodations in exchange for favoritism on the SLO County dais.

Ryan Wright, formerly known as Ryan Petetit, allegedly colluded with a former SLO County supervisor to pay him in bribes and gifts totaling more than $95,000, according to the DOJ's indictment. In exchange, the supervisor reportedly smoothed the way—at the city level—for Wright's development projects and voted in favor of his company's projects while serving on the county Board of Supervisors. The indictment states that they later covered up the bribery scheme by forging documents.

Grover Beach's Wright, 37, was arrested on Oct. 30 on a three-count indictment. A source who wished to remain anonymous confirmed that the unnamed supervisor, "County Supervisor 1," is the late 3rd District Supervisor Adam Hill. Hill and Wright allegedly worked with an unnamed third person the indictment named "Co-Conspirator 1" to carry out the bribes and forging.

This is the second time someone has been indicted for bribing Hill—the first was cannabis kingpin Helios Dayspring, who's now serving a 22-month prison sentence for bribing a public official and committing tax fraud.

The new indictment indicated uncertainty about when these crimes started, claiming they continued until May 23, 2017. The earliest instances detailed in the document date back to June 2014 when the trio allegedly discussed creating a separate entity—eventually a consulting company—to pay Hill for his work in favor of the development company.

"During this discussion, defendant Wright told County Supervisor 1 that Co-Conspirator 1 'wants to protect all three of us' '[a]nd put[ting] a gag order on all three of us [is a] good idea[],'" the indictment reads. "Defendant Wright warned County Supervisor 1 that '[l]oose lips sink ships.'"

The indictment states that Wright was the CEO of the development company until December 2015, while Co-Conspirator 1 formed the same company in 2012 and served as a managing member. It describes Co-Conspirator 1 as a private law firm attorney who specializes in real estate and land use. Co-Conspirator 1's law firm represented people who needed land use permits from the county, the indictment said.

Prior New Times reporting found that Wright was a partner at PB Companies until he stepped down as CEO in December 2015.

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• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• DARK PAST Former 3rd District Supervisor Adam Hill allegedly accepted bribes in return for advocating for Ryan Wright's development projects.

Business filings to the California Secretary of State show that the paperwork registering PB Companies as a limited liability company was first filed on Feb. 21, 2012. That document lists SLO-based lawyer John W. Belsher as the agent for service. Belsher also signed the filing. His website labels his professional corporation as Belsher Law and it places his practice in the "areas of land use regulation, municipal law, hazardous materials, and business transactions."

The indictment detailed that Wright and his co-conspirator went on to create a consulting company on July 10, 2014, to allegedly funnel payments to Hill. The former supervisor, in turn, served as a managing member of the consulting company and provided false information about those payments on his publicly filed Form 700s.

Form 700s maintain financial transparency from elected officials. They require elected officials to annually disclose income, investments, and gifts received along with other financial interests.

New Times obtained Hill's Form 700s for calendar years 2014, 2015, and 2016. Devoid of records of gifts from the development company, the forms only list monetary gifts from Pacific Gas and Electric Company for 2014 and 2015. No gifts were mentioned for the 2016 calendar year. However, the form for 2014 lists San Luis Consulting under the section for investments, income, and assets of business entities. Hill described the business as "writing, editing, coaching" and listed the fair market value in the $10,001 to $100,000 range. San Luis Consulting isn't mentioned in the other two Form 700s.

"On July 14, 2014, in a text message exchange, County Supervisor 1 told defendant Wright that he liked the idea of Consulting Company 1 paying him because he and defendant Wright and Co-Conspirator 1 could keep their arrangement 'private' by only disclosing Consulting Company 1 on his Form 700 disclosure form," the indictment read.

California Secretary of State business filings confirm that a limited liability company called San Luis Consulting formed on July 10, 2014. The initial filing lists Belsher again as the agent of service. A filing on Feb. 2, 2015, names Hill as the managing member and he signed off on it.

The FBI executed search warrants at Hill's SLO residence and his county office in March 2020. A month later, the FBI also interviewed Wright and his co-conspirator separately. Hill died by suicide in August that year. On Aug. 17, 2022, the co-conspirator accepted a federal grand jury subpoena that directed the development company to hand over records of payments made to the consulting company.

Wright's first alleged bribes to Hill were detailed in a text message exchange between the two in 2014.

"Defendant Wright told County Supervisor 1 that Development Company 1 would pay County Supervisor 1 $5,000 up front and $1,700 a month thereafter, and would provide County Supervisor 1 with a leased car from a Volvo dealership using Development Company 1's funds," the indictment read.

That same day, Hill reportedly texted Wright that he had already spoken to a member of SLO city's Architectural Review Commission. The former supervisor then explained to Wright that he was "going to golden ticket you to all the people and places you need to be with/at."

The bulk of the 2014 texts pertained to a project at 590 Marsh St., which would later be part of the San Luis Square Project—a site that's currently under construction. During these discussions, Hill allegedly agreed to accept a car allowance paid for by Wright and leased a Volvo Wagon valued at $43,020.

Between 2014 and 2015, Wright also urged Hill to seek approval on other projects like Toad Creek Homes and Las Tablas Villas in Templeton and the Avila Ranch housing development.

Among other payments, Wright also allegedly greased Hill's palms in 2014 with a trip to San Francisco to watch a Giants versus St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Both the semi-private jet flight and game were funded by the development company. The former CEO reportedly spent at least $754 for rooms for each of them at a luxury San Francisco hotel.

"Defendant Wright, using Development Company 1's funds, also paid for his and County Supervisor 1's premium seat, which were in the first row along the third baseline and cost approximately $1,032 per ticket," the indictment said.

The federal grand jury claimed Wright also knowingly falsified and tampered with a record. The indictment noted that he allegedly made an Excel spreadsheet in August 2022 that claimed the development company owed Hill $10,000 for work related to a project in Santa Barbara County.

"In fact, as defendant Wright then knew, the spreadsheet had been altered after learning of the FBI investigation to include references to the Santa Barbara project while the original document included no such references," the indictment said.

Wright is a familiar face in local legal proceedings. In 2016, Jonathan Westbay filed a lawsuit again him, Belsher, and former business associate Russell Sheppel for breach of contract and property damage related to a development deal in Arroyo Grande. Westbay alleged that Wright and his partners wrote bad checks to pay their share of the mortgage.

During that lawsuit, Wright was contending with two other active cases. He was arrested in November 2015 for criminal charges stemming from domestic violence allegations. Then, he was sued in civil court by a former girlfriend who accused Wright of verbally, sexually, and physically assaulting her on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2014 while they were in a relationship.

If convicted of his latest crimes pertaining to Hill and his co-conspirator, Wright faces federal prison time up to 35 years. Δ

Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at [email protected].