T
he John Muir Land Trust outbid others to purchase Point Buckler Island in Solano County at a public auction for $3.8 million, just before the seller's arrest. The trust bought the 50-acre marshy island on January 22 in front of the Solano County Courthouse in Fairfield. The seller, John Sweeney, was arrested by sheriff's deputies after being told he had a bench warrant for a civil matter.

    Sweeney, a former dot-com millionaire and yachtsman, had purchased the island in 2011 for $150,000 and turned it into an elite kitesurfing club for Silicon Valley billionaires. However, his unauthorized construction on the island, including two helipads, a levee, and a deep-water dock, was repeatedly found to be illegal and breached water board codes to protect endangered species.

    The unpermitted building resulted in a $4.6 million penalty for Sweeney and his firm in 2016. Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, called the environmental destruction "egregious." The auction was supposed to have started at $0, but Sgt. Tyler Pierce of the Solano County Sheriff's Office began bidding at $3,783,270.24.

    The John Muir Land Trust had locked in its bid prior to proceedings, and no further bids came in after Sweeney's arrest. The money from the purchase will likely be used to pay off penalties and creditors. Sweeney had previously listed the island for $75 million in an apparent attempt to sell it to a group backed by Silicon Valley billionaires.