Democrat Mayor’s SHADY Donors — What She Told Them

Two people shake hands over a desk while cash is exchanged underneath — Photo: Mercigod / Shutterstock

Evidence set for former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal bribery trial includes a claim that $300,000 in cash changed hands in a black gym bag.

Story Highlights

Prosecutors say Thao sold her office to the Duong family, owners of a city recycling contractor, for a no-show job for her partner and attack mailers against her rivals.
A key witness told the FBI an unnamed person was paid $300,000 in cash in a black gym bag, and that he helped count it, according to court filings.
A federal judge ruled jurors may see a party video and hear secretly recorded calls over defense objections.
Thao, her partner Andre Jones and David and Andy Duong have all pleaded not guilty.

Thao was mayor of Oakland, California, until voters recalled her in November 2024. Prosecutors say she promised city favors to the Duongs, who own the recycling firm California Waste Solutions, in exchange for money and help for herself and her longtime partner, Andre Jones. New details from the government’s trial exhibits were reported on Saturday, October 10, and the trial is scheduled to open in federal court on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

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What Prosecutors Say Thao Traded Away

A federal grand jury indicted Thao, Jones, David Duong and his son Andy Duong in January 2025. Each faces charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, and honest services mail and wire fraud. Honest services fraud means using a public office to cheat citizens out of the honest work an official owes them, usually by taking bribes. If convicted, each could face up to 95 years in prison, according to reports.

According to the Justice Department, the Duongs paid for a $75,000 negative mailer campaign against Thao’s opponents in the 2022 mayor’s race. They also made $95,000 in payments to Jones for a no-show job, meaning a paid job with no real work, at their housing company, with promises of more. A key witness is expected to testify that the job was worth $300,000 in all.

In return, prosecutors say Thao promised to have the city buy housing units from the Duongs’ company, extend their recycling contract and put people they picked into city jobs.

The Witness Who Counted the Cash

That witness is Mario Juarez, a businessman who co-founded Evolutionary Homes with the Duongs. The company was set up to turn shipping containers into housing for homeless residents. Juarez has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and has worked as an FBI informant.

According to court filings, Juarez told the FBI that he and David Duong paid cash to Oakland officials after California Waste Solutions won its city recycling contract in 2015. “The day after you won the City of Oakland contract, you were there paying everybody,” Juarez said. He also told agents that an unnamed person was paid $300,000 in cash in a black gym bag, and that he helped count the money.

The Yacht Call and the Party Video

One exhibit is a January 2024 call Andy Duong recorded with Kevin Jenkins, an Oakland City Council member who is now the council’s president. When Jenkins said he could not make a cruise, Duong told him, “We can party up, up in the yacht.” In the same call, prosecutors say, Duong complained that Thao was too slow to buy Evolutionary Homes units and talked about pulling his support. “If you really want to continue for another term, then you better start acting right,” Duong said.

Another exhibit, known as Exhibit 540, is video of the Evolutionary Homes launch party, where Juarez gave a toast. Prosecutors also point to a 2019 recording in which Thao, then a council member, said she preferred a private room “because we don’t really want to be seen with you guys.”

U.S. Chief District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that jurors may see the video and hear several of the calls. Lawyers for the Duongs had argued the material was unrelated to the charges and would unfairly paint Andy Duong in a bad light.

What the Defense Says

All four defendants have pleaded not guilty. Defense lawyers plan to attack Juarez’s believability, saying he has a “decadeslong history of fraud” and a habit of blaming business partners for his own failings. An attorney for Andy Duong has called parts of the government’s evidence “an effort to smear Andy Duong’s character.”

Thao has long rejected the claims about Jones. After the FBI searched her home in 2024, she said of Jones, “He’s never been on any payroll,” and added, “There’s no truth to that at all.”

What Comes Next

The government has lined up dozens of witnesses, including Jenkins and other Oakland officials, along with texts, emails, videos and recorded calls, many seized in the 2024 raids. Starting Tuesday, Oct. 13, a jury will hear it and decide whether Oakland’s former mayor sold her office. Under the law, all four remain innocent unless proven guilty.