The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California says there’s “considerable likelihood” that it will seek a superseding indictment in the alleged bribery case against former Recology employee John Porter.

Porter, who was vice president and manager of Recology’s San Francisco group until January 2021, faces two felony charges in connection with a broader corruption scandal involving the company and numerous San Francisco government officials, nonprofits and contractors. He appeared in court for a hearing on Thursday. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Shepard said the “ongoing investigation” could warrant a superseding indictment, but would not elaborate. 

Shepard described the “voluminous” discovery process related to Porter’s case, which could involve more than 1.2 million pages of documents, as well as many hours of wiretaps and other recordings that will take time to analyze. 

Robb Adkins, Porter’s attorney, said the court appearance was the first time he had heard mention of a possible superseding indictment. He asked District Judge William Orrick to prioritize scheduling the trial, saying Porter is anxious to move forward with the process since initial charges were filed 17 months ago. His next court appearance is Sept. 15. 

Mohammed Nuru, the former director of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works who participated in a years-long corruption scheme with Recology and other city contractors, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for honest services wire fraud in August. Paul Giusti, Recology’s former government and community relations manager for the San Francisco group, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to bribe a local official and commit honest services fraud in August 2021. Giusti is expected to appear in court again on Feb. 16.