{"id":420221,"date":"2026-08-01T00:45:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/420221\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T00:45:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:45:53","slug":"heres-everyone-testifying-at-sheng-thaos-oakland-corruption-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/420221\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s everyone testifying at Sheng Thao\u2019s Oakland corruption trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of a week of explosive revelations<\/a> in the federal corruption case involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, the government has revealed the people it plans to call to the stand at the October trial.<\/p>\n

Thao, her romantic partner Andre Jones, and Oakland recycling contractors David and Andy Duong are all charged<\/a> with participating in an elaborate bribery scheme. Prosecutors allege that Thao and Jones accepted payments and election help from the Duongs in exchange for Thao agreeing to support their businesses and grant them political favors. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n

The 72-person witness list<\/a> released Friday includes elected officials in the city and county, political consultants, local businesspeople, police officers, bank employees, FBI and IRS agents, Port of Oakland bureaucrats, and city staffers, including people who used to work for Thao. The government said it may not call all of these witnesses and that it reserves the right to add more people as the case progresses.<\/p>\n

Two people who\u2019ve pleaded guilty to charges related to the bribery allegations \u2014 former San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo and entrepreneur Mario Juarez \u2014 will also testify.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors also released their exhibit list<\/a>, which includes messages and images taken from the defendants\u2019 phones and other devices. Notably, they\u2019re planning to introduce hundreds of pictures and videos from Andy Duong\u2019s phone. In a filing last week, the government alleged that Duong took videos of numerous local officials in compromising situations \u2014 including partying with \u201cscantily clad women\u201d \u2014 with the intention of using the videos as blackmail.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the entire witness list<\/p>\n

The following names and descriptions are taken from the court filing published Friday. We edited one description that was inaccurate.<\/p>\n

1. Jestin Johnson \u2013 Former Oakland City Administrator
2. Samari Johnson \u2013 Butterfly Direct Marketing
3. Renia Webb \u2013 Former Chief of Staff to Sheng Thao
4. Cesley Frost \u2013 Evolutionary Homes
5. Larry Gallegos \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
6. Julie Wedge \u2013 Evolutionary Homes
7. Julie Caskey \u2013 Former Thao Campaign Manager
8. Chris Wedge \u2013 Evolutionary Homes
9. Cecilia Mendez \u2013 Evolutionary Homes
10. Brandon Harami \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
11. Jimmy Hoang \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
12. Betsy Lake \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
13. Louansee Moua \u2013 Sheng Thao Associate and California Waste Solutions Consultant
14. Harold Duffey \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
15. Jelani Killings \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
16. Francis Zamora \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
17. Leigh Hanson \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
18. Noah Finneburgh \u2013 Thao Mayoral Campaign Member
19. Tonya Allen \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
20. Brittany Hines \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
21. Asha Reed \u2013 City of Oakland Clerk
22. Mario Juarez \u2013 Evolutionary Homes
23. Steven Falk \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
24. Emily Weinstein \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
25. Zach Goldman \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
26. Latonda Simmons \u2013 Former City of Oakland Employee
27. Cheryl Ho \u2013 Port of Oakland
28. Danny Wan \u2013 Port of Oakland
29. Bryan Azevedo \u2013 Former San Leandro Councilperson
30. Teresa Hoang \u2013 VABA\/CWS
31. Phua Gilman \u2013 Vantage Solutions
32. Nikki Fortunado Bas \u2013 Former Oakland City Councilperson
33. Kevin Jenkins \u2013 Oakland City Councilperson
34. Officer Luan Mai \u2013 Oakland Police Department
35. Officer Bryant Ocampo \u2013 Oakland Police Department
36. Rebecca Scatena \u2013 JP Morgan Chase
37. Taylor Blevins \u2013 Bank of America
38. Tavares Nichols \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
39. Joseph Pettway \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
40. Andrea Pomicpic \u2013 City of Oakland Employee
41. Sean O\u2019Brien \u2013 City of Oakland Vendor
42. Richy Abraham \u2013 City of Oakland Vendor
43. Special Agent Katherine Barclay \u2013 FBI
44. Special Agent Tyler Nave \u2013 FBI
45. Special Agent Alexandra Bryant \u2013 FBI
46. Staff Operations Specialist Stephanie Watt \u2013 FBI
47. Special Agent James Folger \u2013 FBI
48. Special Agent Katie Taylor \u2013 FBI
49. Forensic Examiner Michael Kan \u2013 FBI
50. Special Agent James Webb \u2013 FBI
51. Special Agent Rachael Grace \u2013 FBI
52. Special Agent Jeff Byram \u2013 FBI
53. Special Agent Amanda Chung \u2013 FBI
54. U.S. Postal Inspector Christopher McCollow
55. U.S. Postal Inspector Zackery O\u2019Connor
56. U.S. Postal Inspector Jeffrey Fitch
57. U.S. Postal Inspector Aaron Parker
58. U.S. Postal Inspector Sandra Alvarez-Ramirez
59. U.S. Postal Inspection Service Forensic Computer Analyst, Senior, Christopher Wilkins
60. U.S. Postal Inspection Service Forensic Computer Analyst, Senior, Pete Gonzalez
61. Special Agent Christine Stegner \u2013 IRS-CI
62. Special Agent Ben Nikssarin \u2013 IRS-CI
63. Special Agent Imran Khan \u2013 IRS-CI
64. Special Agent Michael Hammond \u2013 IRS-CI
65. Special Agent Jesse Bumanlag \u2013 IRS-CI
66. Special Agent Cindy Ho \u2013 IRS-CI
67. IRS Analyst Huy (Derrick) Dang
68. IRS Analyst Daniel Martinelli
69. Chain of Custody Witnesses \u2013 FBI
70. Chain of Custody Witnesses \u2013 USPIS
71. Chain of Custody Witnesses \u2013 IRS-CI
72. Custodians of Records<\/p>\n

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