SLO County developer charged with bribing Adam Hill is now accused of fraud scheme

The San Luis Obispo County developer who was arrested and charged with bribing late SLO County Supervisor Adam Hill in an elaborate corruption scheme paid for his criminal defense lawyers using money he defrauded from Texas investors, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged in a news release Thursday.

The agency alleges that 37-year-old Ryan Wright — formerly known as Ryan Petetit — solicited funds for luxury home real estate development in Dripping Springs, Texas, and diverted investors’ money to pay for the lawyers he retained in the bribery investigation.

The Grover Beach resident also used the diverted funds for personal expenses, the agency said.

Wright is charged with 14 counts of wire fraud, three counts of attempted bank fraud and one count of access device fraud, according to the federal indictment.

This is in addition to the conspiracy, falsification of records and obstruction of justice charges filed against him on Oct. 30 for allegedly giving Hill more than $95,000 in bribes and gifts over the course of at least three years.

The new indictment lists two unnamed partners Wright worked with in the fraud scheme.

Wright solicited funds from investors from October 2021 through October 2023 — the month he was arrested for the bribery scheme — the agency said.

That entire time, the agency said, Wright knew he was under investigation for the bribery scheme. He solicited money even after the real estate deal in Texas collapsed, the agency said.

The total amount he raised and misused from investors added up to approximately $2 million.

The Attorney’s Office alleges Wright also fraudulently sought more than $24 million in financing for the real estate deal after it fell apart.

This included opening an account in the company’s name and temporarily inflating it with funds not intended for the project in order to deceive lenders into believing the company had sufficient cash to close on the loan.

Wright also fraudulently opened credit cards using a business associate’s credit rating, the agency alleges.

With the credit, the agency alleges, he fraudulently spent $450,000, some of which paid for Las Vegas hotel rooms, tickets to sporting events, plastic surgery and payments for his criminal defense attorneys for the corruption and bribery investigation.

SLO real estate developer charged in corruption scheme

The Tribune independently confirmed the county supervisor Wright bribed was Hill, who also reportedly took bribes from former cannabis businessman Helios Dayspring.

Hill died by suicide in 2020 in the midst of the federal investigation.

According to the indictment, Wright and his attorney co-conspirator created a consulting company to funnel payments to Hill, and the consulting company allowed the conspirators to conceal the payments from the public and the city of San Luis Obispo.

The Department of Justice declined to name the local attorney as they have not yet been charged with a crime.

Hill also provided false information on his economic interest form, a public document that elected officials are required to file, the indictment says.

Wright and his co-conspirator bribed Hill from at least June 2014 through May 2017, the indictment says, though it notes the bribery could have begun earlier.

The bribes included a trip to San Francisco to watch Hill’s “favorite baseball team,” the San Francisco Giants, play the in the 2014 National League Championship Series, a $43,020 Volvo sedan and several thousand dollars in cash payments.

Wright, former CEO of PB Companies, has a long criminal history dating back a decade and including jail time served for domestic violence.

PB Companies is still in the midst of a legal battle regarding development planned for the San Luis Obispo Public Market.

The trial for the federal cases is scheduled to begin May 14 in Los Angeles. Wright pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from the corruption scheme on Oct. 31 but has not yet entered pleas to the new charges.

Wright could potentially spend the rest of his life in federal prison.

The corruption conspiracy count carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, the obstruction of justice count has a maximum sentence of 10 years and the falsification of records count carries up to 20 years.

The 14 wire fraud counts each carry a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years, the three attempted bank fraud charges each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years, and the maximum sentence for the access device fraud charges is 10 years.