Two former Caltrain employees have been sentenced to jail for using public funds to build secret apartments inside two Bay Area train stations. Seth Andrew Worden and Joseph Vincent Navarro were charged in March 2024 with felony theft after office space at the historic Burlingame station was converted into Navarro's personal residence in 2019, SFGate reports. Prosecutors say Worden, a station manager, hired contractors for the renovations, keeping invoices under $3,000—the amount he could approve without oversight. The upgrades, which included a kitchen, shower, and security cameras, totaled $42,000.
Navarro, a deputy director for Caltrain, lived in the Burlingame station apartment until 2022, when he was caught and fired. Prosecutors said Caltrain found the secret apartment after an anonymous tip, the Mercury-News reports. Worden was fired after a similar setup was discovered at the Millbrae station in 2020, with $8,000 spent on renovations there. Caltrain has left the unauthorized apartments untouched for now, citing historic preservation concerns and code issues. "The little homes they built remain intact as they constructed them," San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe tells SFGate. "The work was well done."
Worden pleaded no contest in January in exchange for testifying against Navarro, who was found guilty by a jury in April. Worden was sentenced to 60 days in jail, a year of probation, and was ordered to repay about $8,000 to Caltrain's governing board, along with fines and required counseling. Navarro received a 4-month jail sentence, two years' probation, and a work ban involving fiduciary duties, and will owe restitution to be determined later. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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