Former SLO developer sentenced to 5 years for bribing late SLO County supervisor

A San Luis Obispo County real estate developer convicted of bribing late Supervisor Adam Hill in an elaborate corruption scheme and then defrauding Texas investors to pay for his lawyers was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

Ryan Wright, formerly known as Ryan Petetit, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in September.

The 38-year-old was originally charged with 14 counts of wire fraud, three counts of attempted bank fraud, one count of access device fraud, one count of conspiracy, one count of falsification of records and one count of obstruction of justice. He faced at least 35 years in federal prison, but the other charges were dismissed under his plea agreement.

His sentence — five years — was the maximum allowed under his plea agreement, court records showed.

According to the Department of Justice, Wright was a managing member of PB Companies, LLC, including serving as CEO until December 2015, when he stepped down because of an arrest for domestic violence .

PB Companies had multiple projects in San Luis Obispo County and city in 2014.

Wright admitted to bribing Hill in a "quid pro quo bribery scheme" from June 2014 through March 2017, in which Wright would pay the late supervisor in exchange for securing approvals necessary for real estate development projects with Wright's company, PB Companies.

Court records do not list Hill by name, but The Tribune independently confirmed the county supervisor mentioned in the records was Hill, who died of an intentional drug overdose on Aug. 6, 2020.

The justice department said Hill had influence over matters where PB Companies LLC's projects took place. This included Hill's vote for approval of at least two PB Companies' real estate development projects.

Wright paid or arranged others to pay a total of $94,234 either to Hill directly or to Hill's company, San Luis Consulting LLC, court records showed. This included a $10,000 wire in November 2016 — about a month after Hill voted on one of PB Companies' projects — travel, a front-row ticket to a San Francisco Giants National League Championship Series game October 2014 and a $43,020 Volvo sedan .

Wright was also indicted in December 2023, with the Justice Department alleging he solicited funds for a luxury home real estate development in Dripping Springs, Texas, and diverted investors' money to pay for the lawyers he retained in the bribery investigation and for personal expenses.

These charges were also dropped under the plea agreement.

SLO County developer had history of domestic violence, alleged 'double escrow scheme' PB Companies was involved in developing a number of high-profile properties around San Luis Obispo County, including the San Luis Obispo Public Market.

In November 2018, Wright pleaded no contest to five felony charges including inflicting corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, assault, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness.

Wright was sentenced to 270 days in San Luis Obispo County Jail. He attempted to serve his time at a "pay-to-stay" facility in Southern California, but a judge declined to grant him that option.

A legal battle erupted between PB Companies and a Bakersfield-based developer Taylor Judkins over the SLO Public Market development in 2020.

First, PB Companies sued Judkins , alleging the developer engaged in fraud and mismanagement. The next day, Judkins sued back, alleging PB Companies engaged in a " double escrow scheme ," which accounted for a $700,000 loss for Judkins.

SLO attorney and developer sued by business partners over alleged 'double escrow' scheme

PB Companies was eventually ousted from the SLO Public Market project.

San Luis Obispo city officials also took Wright to court in 2015 to compel him to pay $13,200 in outstanding fines for violations on a residential property they said constituted a public nuisance and had frustrated neighbors for several years.