‘Godfather’ gets prison in bribery scheme
From humble beginnings working in the fields with his father, Natividad “Nate” Cervantes rose in the ranks of government service. At the height of his career, the self-titled “Godfather of Camp Pendleton” was managing millions of dollars in contracts on the military base.
“You tossed it all away because of greed,” U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia told him Friday.
Cervantes, who handed out lucrative contracts in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in bribes, must now pay the cost for his role in the public corruption scheme.
The judge sentenced the 65-year-old to two years in prison, saying it was an appropriate term given how such schemes erode public integrity.
As part of his plea agreement reached in January, Cervantes will also have to forfeit $106,000 — just short of the $119,000 in cash bribes he admitted to receiving between 2008 and 2011.
Two contractors who offered bribes have also been sentenced to prison terms in the case, and the investigation recently led to bribery charges against another public official, the buildings manager who oversees the three U.S. ports of entry in San Diego County.
“When people at the top are asking for bribes … it creates a culture of corruption affecting the entire system,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Schopler.
Cervantes, with his friends and family listening in the back of the courtroom, apologized for a mistake he said he’ll have to live with the rest of his life.
His lawyer, John Kirby, said the shame has taken such a toll on Cervantes that some days he doesn’t want to get out of bed.
The investigation into Cervantes culminated in March 2013, when he thought he was getting a $10,000 payoff from a contractor — the first installment of a $40,000 bribe in exchange for a $4 million flooring contract at Camp Pendleton. The two met at a cigar lounge on Miramar Road. Cervantes accepted the cash in an envelope, but then dropped the bribe on the ground as he saw FBI agents approach, court records show. Turns out, the contractor, Bayani Abueg Jr., was cooperating with investigators and wearing a wire.
Abueg, outfitted with a buttonhole camera, had earlier recorded a meeting in Cervantes’ office that negotiated the terms of that flooring job and the bribe, which would amount to 1 percent of the total contract.
In the recording, Cervantes was heard pushing a Department of Defense official in a phone call to give Abueg’s company the job, saying, “You’ll do your magic, right?”
After hanging up, Cervantes turned to Abueg and said, “There you go.”
Another deal was brokered in 2008: a $25,000 bribe for a $3.5 million flooring contract to Abueg and another contractor, Hugo Alonso, court records show.
Cervantes also admitted to soliciting free remodeling work on his downtown San Diego condo and Del Mar home.
The scheme was a prime example of the “trickle” down effect of bribery in government contracts, the prosecutor said, as both contractors also demanded kickbacks from their subcontractors.
Alonso was sentenced last month to a year in prison, while Abueg got six months. Both also were ordered to pay more than $500,000 total in fines and restitution.
But the sentences were lenient, partly because both contractors agreed to cooperate with investigators on this case and others.
One of those investigations came to light earlier this month with the arrest of Timothy Cashman, the federal buildings manager of the San Ysidro, Tecate and Otay Mesa border crossings.
Alonso told authorities he’d paid a bribe to Cashman for a re-roofing job at the Otay Mesa facility. Cashman is also accused of having his employees steal copper cable and aluminum panels from the Otay facility to sell for cash. He has pleaded not guilty.
