Former Assemblyman Terrence Goggin Pleaded Guilty to Defraunding BART Coffee Shop Investors

He took their coffee money and ran.

Former Assemblyman Terrence Goggin on Wednesday pleaded guilty to defraunding investors of money they thought was going for him to build more BART station coffee shops. But he instead diverted for personal purposes.

Goggin, a Democrat who represented San Bernadino in the 1970s and 1980s, copped in San Francisco federal court to one count of money laundering.

Goggin, also an attorney, was founder and CEO of the Metropolitan Coffee and  Concession Company.

In 2013 and 2014, according to the Justice Department, he owned four Peet’s Coffee shops at four BART stations.

He took money from investors supposedly to build two more shops at the Civic Center and the Balboa Park stations in San Francisco. The investors gave $585,00 for the Civic Center station and $100,000 for the supposed Balboa Park locale.

But the whole thing was a scam and he used the money for other purposes just as he planned.

According to the Justice Department, he “diverted” all the money into bank accounts and other business ventures–including a restaurant in New York–that the investors “had not agreed, or intended, to invest.”

Prosecutors said he also used the money for personal expenses, including giving thousands of dollars to a paramour in Thailand.

Goggin served in the Assembly from 1974 and 1984.

He later practiced law in San Francisco.

But his license was suspended for not paying dues.

Additionally, he was sanctioned for not returning to a client, as he was supposed to, $5,500 from his $10,000 retainer.

Goggin is free on bond, with sentencing scheduled for April 1, 2020.

He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in the slammer and a fine of $250,000, plus returning the money he stole.