Joseph Navarro’s apartment was a typical Bay Area bachelor pad: on the small side, somewhat lacking in homey touches or creature comforts. But the location was hard to beat: stashed away inside the Burlingame Caltrain station.
Images released Thursday by the San Mateo County district attorney’s office show the interior of the secret dwelling that Navarro, a former Caltrain deputy director, built illegally using public funds.
Navarro lived in the snug chambers for years, but he will now reside in a county jail for four months. A San Mateo County judge this week sentenced Navarro for the scheme that misused $42,000 in public funds. He was convicted in April of felony theft and embezzlement.
Navarro, 66, who now lives in Newtown, Pennsylvania, received 28 days’ credit for time served and was placed on two years supervised probation by San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Lisa A. Novak. He must surrender to jail by Aug. 2. He will also be ordered to pay restitution to the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which owns and operates Caltrain, in an amount to be determined at an Aug. 15 hearing.
The home did not have much of a personalized touch. The walls were bare, and there were no plants. But investigators found clothes hanging in closets, a flat-screen TV positioned close to the bed, and exercise equipment, among other items.
Prosecutors said this was Navarro’s primary residence from July 2019 to April 2022. An anonymous caller tipped off Caltrain in 2022, leading to Navarro’s termination and criminal charges.
Navarro earned $235,000 in 2021, plus $95,000 in other pay and benefits, according to Transparent California.
To construct his apartment, Navarro conspired with TransAmerica Services Inc. station manager Seth Worden to circumvent oversight by keeping each invoice below $3,000 — within Worden’s spending authority — to avoid detection by Caltrain management, according to District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe.
Worden, who also built an $8,000 apartment for himself at the Millbrae station using the same scheme, was sentenced Monday to 60 days in county jail and one year of probation. He pleaded no contest in January and testified against Navarro as part of a plea agreement.
The Millbrae apartment was discovered by Caltrain employees in 2020, but the agency was unaware of the Burlingame conversion until the anonymous tip two years later.
The apartments had been left untouched while the criminal cases unfolded, at the request of the district attorney’s office, Caltrain said.
“The misuse of public funds for private use is a violation of the law, Caltrain policy, and the public’s trust,” Executive Director Michelle Bouchard said in a statement. “Caltrain investigates such misconduct, and in cases where there is evidence of unlawful conduct by an employee or a contractor, we immediately act to rectify the situation and hold the individuals who are responsible accountable.”