James Spingola, the nonprofit director charged with four felonies for purportedly aiding and abetting former Human Rights Commission head Sheryl Davis, was released from jail on Wednesday on the promise that he return to court next month.
Davis, who was arrested on Monday, is being charged with 17 felonies for misappropriating public funds for her personal business ventures and her son’s tuition and failing to disclose that she and Spingola shared a vehicle and a home. Spingola’s nonprofit, Collective Impact, received over $1 million from the Human Rights Commission during Davis’ tenure.
In a brief but charged appearance before the judge and Assistant District Attorney Erin Loback, Spingola’s lawyer, Randy Knox, advocated for his immediate release without bond. Davis was released on $50,000 bond on Monday afternoon, but Spingola has been in custody since he and Davis surrendered on their warrants on Monday morning.
“He has no recent criminal record,” said Knox to the District Attorney’s team and the presiding judge. “This man is not a danger to the public.”
Behind Knox and Spingola, who sat quietly in an orange sweatsuit next to Knox, over a dozen people crowded into the few rows of observation chairs, some spilling out into the courtroom. Spingola, who entered through the back entrance of the courtroom from the jail, nodded in recognition to the crowd, flashing a thumbs down sign.
James Spingola of Collective Impact and Sheryl Davis, the former head of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.
At Knox’s cue, the crowd of observers stood in unison. “All these people have come to show support today,” announced Knox.
Both the District Attorney’s team and the presiding judge said they had no objection to Spingola’s release, and ordered him to return to the courtroom on May 6.
At that, Spingola’s supporters burst into cheers, some holding clasped fists in the air. Others slapped each other on the back. Some had traveled in caravans from Bayview-Hunters Point, and others from the Fillmore, where Spingola runs the Ella Hill Hutch Center, a community center that serves predominantly Black youth and families.
One of those supporters was Margaret Brodkin, the former director of the Department of Children, Youth and their Families. “This is a travesty,” said Brodkin, adding that she has worked with Spingola and Davis for nearly a decade.
In a letter Bodkin distributed to reporters outside the courthouse, she writes, “James Spingola and Sheryl Davis are two of the most dedicated and skilled service providers, program developers and community leaders in the city in many decades. Treating them like criminals is itself a crime.” Brokin argues that the September 2025 audit of Davis’ department, which played a key role in their being arrested and charged, was “flawed and distorted.”
Observers crowd outside the courthouse before James Spingola’s arraignment hearing on April 1, 2026. Photo by Marina Newman.
In September of 2024, reporting on Davis’ spending found that Davis had spent more than $10,000 in city funds on a rental in Martha’s Vineyard and that she shared a home and a vehicle with Spingola, without disclosing this as a potential conflict of interest. Davis resigned from her post and has been a subject of investigation ever since.
The audit, which was conducted by the controller and the city attorney’s office found that Davis misused approximately $4.6 million in city funds. Many of Davis’ expenses, including her son’s graduate school tuition and for her business ventures, such as promoting her children’s book, were funded by Collective Impact.
Davis is scheduled to face charges on April 2.