Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her boyfriend Andre Jones, and father-and-son waste-management contractors David and Andy Duong will begin their federal corruption trial this week, ultimately bringing some closure to a yearslong probe.
It has echoes in the corruption scandal that gripped San Francisco City Hall five years ago, with city contractors engaging in alleged pay-to-play schemes, taking city officials on free trips to Asia, and links to the business of waste management. But in this case, the contractors allegedly got their favorite city councilmember elected mayor, and continued seeking contracts and preferential treatment until federal agents descended in June 2024. Also, the mayor herself, in this case, allegedly solicited large cash bribes.
That's what federal prosecutors will be trying to prove, anyway, as jury selection begins Tuesday in the trial of Sheng Thao and the three co-defendants.
As ABC 7 reported last week, exhibits that will be presented to jurors by prosecutors include a recording of a 2019 conversation between Thao, then a city councilmember, and Andy Duong, in which she asks to meet with Duong and his father in a "private room" to discuss an issue with their company, California Waste Solutions, "because we don't really want to be seen with you guys."
And, as we learned several months ago, Andy Duong had a habit of recording officials and getting incriminating video of them. There is, reportedly, a video of San Leandro city councilmember Bryan Azevedo — San Leandro also had garbage contracts with the Duongs — on a 2023 trip to Vietnam discussing some sort of sexual encounter he'd had the night before with Andy Duong. As we learned in February, Azevedo is one of the figures in this case who has already taken a plea and will likely be testifying against the Duongs.
The man likely to be the star witness in the prosecution's case is East Bay political operative Mario Juarez, who got into business with the Duongs on a company called Evolutionary Homes, which had plans to convert shipping containers into transitional housing for the housing. Juarez also allegedly served as a "straw donor" to one or more of Thao's campaigns, taking money from the Duongs and using it to help Thao get elected, including allegedly funding a $75,000 mailer for Thao's mayoral campaign.
Juarez pleaded guilty in July and has presumably been cooperating with investigators, and as we knew early on, Juarez was likely a threat to the Duongs and had his own house shot up in June 2024, days after the feds raided the homes of Thao and Jones and the Duongs.
In exchange for keeping the Duongs and their companies in the city's good graces, prosecutors say that Thao solicited a $3 million bribe for herself, which she did not receive, in addition to securing a $300,000-per-year no-show job for Jones at Evolutionary Homes. At the time of the raids, Jones had reportedly been paid about $95,000.
As Bay Area News Group reports, filings by the prosecution show that multiple East Bay political figures are expected to take the stand in the trial, including Oakland City Council President Kevin Jenkins, and former Oakland city councilmember and current Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas.
The prosecution expects to be presenting its case until mid-November, which means that this trial could easily bleed into the new year once the defense begins, and once the trial runs up against holiday breaks.
If convicted on all charges, Thao could face a maximum sentence of 95 years in prison, with the others potentially facing lengthy prison time as well.
Previously: Feds Reveal New Allegations Against Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao as Informant Takes Guilty Plea
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