REDWOOD CITY – The first of two defendants who embezzled public funds to build personal apartments in Caltrain stations in San Mateo County was sentenced to 60 days in county jail at a hearing Monday.
Seth Andrew Worden, a 63-year-old resident of Oceanside, was also sentenced to one year of supervised probation and ordered to pay $8,144.01 in restitution, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. The sentence was passed down by San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Kevin Dunleavy.
In January, Worden pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor embezzlement charge for his role in commissioning unauthorized renovations on the Millbrae and Burlingame Caltrain stations in exchange for testifying against his co-defendant, Joseph Vincent Navarro. He had initially been charged with a felony count of misusing public funds before accepting the plea deal.
The sentence is modifiable and Worden will likely not serve any time in jail, said his defense attorney Jeffrey Hayden. Instead, he can serve his time through a community service program.
“Under the circumstances, that’s a very fair outcome in his case,” Hayden said. “He made a mistake, but he’s an honest guy. He’s not predisposed. He’s not trying to take advantage of anybody.”
Hayden said Worden slept overnight at the station and that very little was “done for his benefit.” He added that Worden feels relieved by the outcome of the case and has a “genuine sense of regret.”
“What little was done, he paid back in full,” he added. “He wants nothing more than to put it behind him and to start over and to make everybody right, and he’s been doing that since it was called to his attention some time ago.”
San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Co-defendant Navarro was found guilty of one felony count of misappropriation of public funds in April and was set to be sentenced Wednesday. He faces up to four years in state prison.
In 2019, Worden, who was the TransAmerica Services Inc. station manager, used $8,000 of public funds to turn a section of the Millbrae Train Station into a private apartment, prosecutors said.
Worden also conspired with Navarro, who was a deputy director for Caltrain, in 2019 and 2020 to convert an office space in the Burlingame station into a private apartment for Navarro using public funds, prosecutors said. The apartment was complete with a gym, a bedroom and a living room, and Navarro’s girlfriend would frequently stay with him at the makeshift residence.
Under the direction of Navarro, Worden hired contractors to add a kitchen, shower, security cameras and more, prosecutors said. The invoice costs were purposely kept under $3,000 so as to not be detected by management.
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The renovation costs for the Burlingame station added up to $38,000.
At Navarro’s trial, the prosecutor said that Navarro instructed Worden to stay quiet about the renovations.
Worden’s use of funds to remodel the Millbrae train station was uncovered in 2020 and he was terminated, prosecutors said.
Navarro continued to live in the Burlingame train station full time until 2022 undetected, prosecutors said. Upon discovery, Navarro told executives that he lived in the station occasionally. He was terminated from his position.