Former Caltrain employee who admitted to building secret homes inside stations sentenced
A former Caltrain employee has been sentenced after being convicted for his role in a scheme where secretly he built homes inside stations, including one for himself, prosecutors said.
According to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe's office, 63-year-old Seth Andrew Worden received a sentence of two months in county jail and one year probation at a hearing on Monday.
In January, Worden pleaded no contest to misdemeanor embezzlement, as part of a deal with prosecutors in exchange for testimony against 67-year-old Joseph Vincent Navarro, who was also charged in the case last year. Worden was also sentenced to pay $8,000 in restitution and to receive substance abuse treatment and counseling.
Worden was a Caltrain station manager employed by TASI, which the agency has a contract with to provide rail services. Navarro was Caltrain's deputy director of operations.
According to prosecutors, Navarro directed Worden to use public funds to convert a portion of the Burlingame station into Navarro's personal residence in 2019 to 2020 without authorization. Worden hired contractors to remodel a part of a station which had been used as office space.
Among the changes made to the station included a kitchen, shower, heating, plumbing and security cameras. Prosecutors said invoices were kept below a $3,000 threshold to avoid detection.
Navarro used the Burlingame station as his residence until he was fired in 2022, after the agency received an anonymous tip. According to the DA's office, $42,000 was spent on remodeling the station for Navarro.
Prosecutors said Worden used $8,000 in public finds to remodel a portion of the Millbrae station into a personal residence for himself in 2019. The following year, Worden was fired after Caltrain employees discovered the living space.
"The misuse of public funds for private use is a violation of the law, Caltrain policy and the public's trust," Caltrain executive director Michelle Bouchard told CBS News Bay Area after the pair were indicted in March 2024. "Caltrain investigates every claim of 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."
Navarro was convicted Apr. 30 of felony theft and embezzlement of public funds following an eight-day trial. Prosecutors said he is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday.
