A former Caltrain executive found guilty of embezzling public funds to build a “crash pad” for himself in the historic Burlingame train station has been sentenced to four months in county jail, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Joe Navarro, former Caltrain deputy director of Operations, misappropriated $38,000 in public funds between 2019-21 to remodel and live at the station, including a bathroom renovation, shower installation and bringing in a bed, TV and home gym equipment, a jury found on May 1.
As part of a plea deal with the DA’s Office and in exchange for testifying, Worden was sentenced to 60 days in county jail. He also owes $8,144 in restitution and will be required to attend mandatory substance abuse counseling.
During Navarro’s trial, his defense had unsuccessfully argued during closing arguments April 29 that Navarro — who often worked 80-hour weeks and was a first responder to any railroad-related incidents — had been given authorization to build out the station.
The jury took less than a full day to rebuke that argument and side with the DA’s Office, that argued that Navarro committed an intentionally hidden misuse of public funds over time, with invoices for the remodel intentionally kept below $3,000 as to not alert higher-ups.
“What you’re here to decide is whether or not he is guilty of misappropriation of public funds — taxpayer money he was entrusted with to safeguard, not enrich himself — which is precisely what he did,” prosecutor Joseph Cannon said to the jury during closing arguments.
Navarro will also be on two years of supervised probation and face a restitution hearing Aug. 14.
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