Prosecutors reveal details of San Luis Obispo County corruption

October 13, 2025

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series about developers Ryan Petetit-Wright, John Belsher and the local professionals who assisted in their alleged fraud scheme. CalCoastNews is referring to developer Ryan Petetit, who changed his name to Ryan Wright during the case, as Ryan Petetit-Wright.

By KAREN VELIE

Ryan Petetit-Wright, the former San Luis Obispo County developer who pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy and bribery, appealed a condition of his probation but not his criminal conviction. Federal prosecutors responded on Sept. 26 with nearly 700 pages detailing the campaign of fraud and corruption.

In pleading guilty, Petetit-Wright admitted conspiring with John Belsher and former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Adam Hill through a pay-to-play scheme.

Petetit-Wright is currently serving a five-year prison sentence at the federal prison facility in Lompoc.  He then faces three years of supervised release that requires him to obtain approval from his probation officer before engaging in a business where he might be able to defraud additional victims.

Specifically, condition eight of his probation requires Petetit-Wright to get approval before “engaging in any business that solicits funds from individuals or seeks to obtain loan.” Petetit-Wright argues the condition infringes on a fundamental right or freedom, a liberty interest.

Prosecutors, however, argue that Petetit-Wright has rarely had any real income that was not related to conning victims out of their money.

“His professional life has been one as a grifter and his defrauding people,” according to prosecutors’ Sept. 26 brief. “Further, the court observed that ‘the danger here is not presented by one big crime that started and ended and is done with,’ but instead ‘the danger here is presented by the fact that there’s ongoing crime for years and years and years that seems . . . just not to cease no matter what, even after he knows he’s a target of this investigation.'”

After learning of the government’s fraud and bribery investigation, Petetit-Wright and Belsher allegedly engaged in a multi-year cover-up scheme in which they continued to rake in investor funds they spent on their lavish lifestyles and criminal defense attorneys.

Petetit-Wright “engaged in investor fraud after learning he was under federal investigation and then proceeded to use the embezzled funds to pay for ‘strip clubs, high-end restaurants, night clubs, lease payments, and the retention of criminal defense attorneys to defend him in the bribery investigation,” according to prosecutors. “Making matters worse, Petetit-Wrigt doubled down after finding out he was under federal investigation by engaging in wire fraud and attempted bank fraud.”

After learning he was a target of a FBI corruption investigation in 2020, Petetit-Wright began promoting a proposed development in Texas. He then solicited funds from investors with the promise the monies would pay costs related to the acquisition and development of the property.

Instead, Petetit-Wright diverted much of the money for his personal benefit and some to Belsher.

Between April 20 and October 6, 2022, out of approximately $1.34 million in investor funds for the Texas project, Petetit-Wright directed $700,000 to his company Wright Equity, $53,000 to a law firm he retained in connection with the government’s bribery investigation, and approximately $21,000 to his personal bank and credit card accounts.

Beginning in Feb. 2023, Petetit-Wright “fraudulently used credit cards issued to the businesses belonging to his business partner in the Texas real estate project to pay personal expenses, including Las Vegas hotel rooms, tickets to sporting events, plastic surgery, and the fees charged by his criminal defense attorneys.”

Out of investor funds directly moved into the Wright Equity account, Petetit-Wright transferred $110,000 to his personal bank account, sent $70,000 to a criminal law firm, and $33,684 to Belsher – his alleged co-conspirator referenced in the indictment.

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