Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal bribery trial began this week, with the Democrat accused of gaining a no-show job for her lover and campaign favors in exchange for funneling money to two businesses run by her alleged conspirators.
The corruption case also includes Ms. Thao’s romantic partner, Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong, the father-son business executives who allegedly helped orchestrate the scheme to enrich their recycling and housing firms that depended on government dollars.
“This is a case about a public official who put her power up for sale,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine said in his opening statement Wednesday. “A public official who put greed first, who put her own monetary interests above the people that she was supposed to serve.”
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Prosecutors allege that Ms. Thao agreed to direct city tax dollars to the Duongs’ tiny-home development company Evolutionary Homes, which was pitched as a solution to Oakland’s issues with homelessness.
Ms. Thao is further accused of agreeing to appoint a housing official who would direct contracts to Evolutionary Homes, plus reupping Oakland’s contract with recycling provider California Waste Solutions, which is also owned by the Duongs.
Prosecutors said that in return, the Duongs provided negative campaign mailers during Ms. Thao’s narrow electoral victory in 2022 and agreed to pay Mr. Jones $300,000 for a phony consulting role. Court documents said the Duongs gave $95,000 to Mr. Jones between December 2022 and November 2023.
The outcome of the trial seems to rest on the reliability of the prosecution’s star witness, Mario Juarez, a co-owner of Evolutionary Homes who prosecutors and defense attorneys both acknowledged was a dodgy character. Juarez pleaded guilty to his role in the alleged bribery plot and is cooperating with the government.
Mr. Fine told the jury that Juarez is “no angel,” describing him as a political “fixer” for the Duongs who did “some of their dirty work.”
Defense attorneys characterized Juarez as a conman who has a history of defrauding his business partners and seeking vengeance when challenged on his behavior.
“[Juarez] can be called many things, but a simple witness is not one of them,” Jeffrey Tsai, Ms. Thao’s defense attorney, said in his opening statement.
Mr. Tsai said the former mayor, who was recalled in 2024 amid the bribery scandal and overall crime concerns, rebuffed Juarez’s request to fire a city official because the fixer wanted to resolve a contract dispute.
Mr. Tsai also said there is not a “single text message, email, or recording, audio, video, or otherwise, of Sheng Thao asking anyone for money, or accepting money, from Mario Juarez, or Andy Duong, or David Duong.”
Andy Duong’s defense attorney, Jeff Schenk, said flatly about Juarez that “this case lives or dies with whether or not, when he takes that witness stand, you believe what he has to say.”
Prosecutors argued that an Apple Note saved on Juarez’s phone will help do a lot of the work for them.
The note details the alleged bribery scheme agreed to by Ms. Thao and the Duongs, which is that Andre Jones will receive $300,000 in exchange for the city purchasing 300 housing units from Evolutionary Homes.
Prosecutors said they also have text messages between Juarez and Andy Duong on the election night of 2022 when Ms. Thao eked ahead in the polls.
“So we may go to jail. … But we are $100 million richer,” Juarez said, an apparent reference to the mailers the Duongs funded in the tight race. Prosecutors said Andy replied, “LMFAO. Money buys everything.”
Ms. Thao, Mr. Jones, David Duong and Andy Duong are each charged with conspiracy, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and honest services mail fraud and wire fraud. Andy Duong faces an additional charge of making false statements.
The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.
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