OAKLAND, Calif. – In his opening remarks to the jury, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday that former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao put her power up for sale, placing greed first by betraying her oath of office and taking bribes.
Thao accepted money from businessman David Duong and his son Andy Duong, Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine told jurors in U.S. District Court in Oakland, around the corner from Oakland City Hall.
The Duong family runs California Waste Solutions, the city’s recycling contractor, and operated Evolutionary Homes, which offered modular homes for the homeless.
Bribes disguised in form of negative mailers, ‘no-show’ job, feds say
What they’re saying:
According to the prosecution, the Duongs secretly funded a negative mailer campaign to help Thao eke out a win in the 2022 mayoral election. In exchange, Thao agreed to install the Duongs’ handpicked candidate as the city’s interim head of housing and commit to buying tiny homes from their company, the prosecutor said.
The Duongs allegedly also agreed to make bribe payments to Andre Jones, Thao’s significant other at the time, in the form of a “no-show” job, in part, authorities said.
Outside court, supporters of the Duongs held signs including “We Stand with the Duong Family.”
“All the evidence is not enough (for a guilty finding),” said supporter Vy Dang. “Justice will come out with the Duong family.
According to the prosecution, the jury will hear testimony from its key witness, political operator Mario Juarez, described by Fine as the Duongs’ “fixer” who also co-owned Evolutionary Homes with them until they had a falling out.
At one point, Juarez was beaten up and robbed of his watch and chain — both of which were later found in Andy Duong’s home when it was raided by the FBI, Fine said.
Juarez is hoping for a lenient sentence after he pleaded guilty in the scheme, as did former San Leandro City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, who will also testify. The feds say Azevedo set up an account in his wife’s name to accept bribes in exchange for trying to help Evolutionary Homes land contracts in San Leandro.
Defense blasts key government witness as ‘hustler’
The other side:
In his opening, Thao’s attorney Jeffrey Tsai had the former mayor stand up, saying this is the real Sheng Thao, who did not did not accept any bribes and that the story being told by uarez is “pure fiction.”
An attorney for Andy Duong called Juarez a “consummate hustler” bent on getting revenge against the Duongs and eager to get a sweetheart deal with the prosecution.
The defense also says the government has taken messages involving their clients out of context and that alleged deals for those housing units never went through.
But prosecutors say what matters is that Thao allegedly promised to do things in exchange for bribes, not whether she actually followed through.
Testimony begins Thursday.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: The information from this story is from reporting on the case and courtroom proceedings by KTVU’s Henry Lee.