2 Bay Area men plead guilty to bribing Vallejo city official

VALLEJO, Calif. - Two Bay Area men pleaded guilty to bribing a city official, according to federal authorities.

Steven Chu of San Bruno and Ben Guan of San Francisco ran an illegal marijuana cultivation operation in Vallejo, and in July 2020, the pair were notified that the building where they had their operation violated multiple laws, including city codes about illegal drug activity, according to court documents. 

Chu, 41, and Guan, 36, were told that if they did not fix the building's issues, the City of Vallejo would take legal and administrative action. Instead of correcting the issues, the pair offered to pay a city building inspector to clear the violations and ensure that the city would not interfere. 

On at least six occasions, they paid the inspector around $27,000 in payments not knowing he was working with law enforcement.

Chu and Guan will be sentenced May 2.