Bryan Azevedo, the San Leandro city councilman recently charged in a federal corruption probe last week, may be nearing a plea deal, federal prosecutors have signaled.

The two-term councilmember is “close to reaching a resolution of his case,” which accused him of accepting a $2,000 cash bribe and a cut of future earnings from a fledgling housing business that had been seeking a lucrative city contract, federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing on Tuesday.

As a result, there likely “won’t be any substantive hearings until a potential change of plea or sentencing hearing” in Azevedo’s case, federal prosecutors added. Attempts by this news organization to reach him late Wednesday were not successful.

The revelation comes just a week after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California charged the councilman with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and lying to a government agency. If convicted, Azevedo faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and up to five years behind bars on the other count.

The specter of a plea deal emerged as prosecutors — for the first time — publicly linked Azevedo’s case to a sprawling corruption case in Oakland, which ensnared the city’s former mayor, Sheng Thao, along with her romantic partner, Andre Jones, and the father-and-son business duo of David and Andy Duong. The two cases “concern overlapping events and entities,” the prosecutors’ filing said.

In the Oakland case, prosecutors say former Mayor Thao accepted bribes from the Duongs in the form of political favors and a $95,000 no-show job for Thao’s romantic partner, Andre Jones. In return, authorities claim Thao promised to secure a contract for a housing company co-founded by David Duong — called Evolutionary Homes — as well as a renewed city contract for the Duongs’ recycling business, California Waste Solutions.

Just last week, attorneys for David Duong sought to chip away at the government’s case by challenging the credibility of an apparent FBI informant and potential star witness for federal prosecutors. That informant — a co-conspirator not identified in the indictments — is widely believed to be longtime East Bay political operative Mario Juarez, another co-founder of the Evolutionary Homes. He has not been charged.

Thao, Jones and David and Andy Duong have all pleaded not guilty and could face trial by early next year.

In their filing Tuesday, federal prosecutors said Azevedo’s case might not need to be overseen by the same judge handling the Oakland corruption case, given the potential for a plea deal with San Leandro councilman.

Federal prosecutors claim Azevedo agreed to use his power as a member of the San Leandro City Council to help a local housing company secure a contract with the city, according to charging documents. In exchange, Azevedo expected to receive a percentage of the price from any units the city ultimately purchased from the business, prosecutors said. The company was not identified.

Azevedo was accused of creating a limited liability company in his wife’s name, and then opening a bank account at the behest of the housing company’s leaders to potentially receive more payments, according to court records.

San Leandro City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, left, enjoys drinks with the rest of a delegation of East Bay politicians and business leaders in Vietnam on July 31, 2023. (Frame from video by @mrandyduong) 

On Nov. 3, 2023, Azevedo and a co-owner of the housing company — who also was not identified in court documents — had dinner in Alameda, during which the business owner gave $2,000 in cash to Azevedo, according to the charging documents. When later questioned by federal agents about the money, Azevedo denied receiving any such payment, leading to the false statements charge, prosecutors said.

Over the next several months, Azevedo then allegedly took several steps to help the housing company, including pushing other councilmembers to purchase units from the business, while also urging them to pass an emergency shelter ordinance that would have made a deal easier to accomplish, the federal charges say. Azevedo also allegedly helped coordinate a tour of the housing company’s model units, records show.

Azevedo has yet to make his initial appearance in federal court on the charges, with prosecutors having ordered him to appear on Nov. 12. Azevedo — a sheet-metal foreman by trade who won a second term last year — has previously professed his innocence, telling local media “I didn’t do nothing.”

His ties to the Duong family drew the attention of federal investigators last winter. According to public records, a business association led by the elder Duong paid $6,400 to cover Azevedo’s airfare, hotel and meals during a 10-day trip with other public officials in Vietnam in 2023.

The councilman has previously called Andy Duong a longtime friend and a “great guy” in a series of bizarre and awkward comments to local media outlets. During those interviews, he also denied ever being with prostitutes or using drugs while on the summer 2023 trip to Vietnam, despite not being directly asked about anything like that. And he said he only got massages while in Southeast Asia as part of a delegation that included the Duongs, Thao and other East Bay officials.

Check back for updates to this developing story.

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at [email protected].