Federal grand jury indicted former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao on bribery and corruption charges

On January 9, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California indicted then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, and recycling-company executives David Trung Duong and Andy Hung Duong on eight counts including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery concerning federal programs, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and honest services mail and wire fraud. The indictment, unsealed January 17, 2025, alleges that in the weeks around Oakland's November 2022 mayoral election and after taking office, Thao promised to commit the city to purchasing housing units from a Duong-owned company, extend the city's recycling contract with David Duong's company, and appoint city officials selected by the Duongs. In exchange, prosecutors allege, David and Andy Duong funded a $75,000 negative-mailer campaign against Thao's election opponents and made $95,000 in no-show-job payments to Jones, with the promise of additional payments.

Once in office, Thao allegedly used her influence to help appoint a Duong-selected city official and directed staff to meet with and tour the Duongs' housing company. Andy Duong was separately charged with making false statements to federal agents. Oakland voters recalled Thao in November 2024, roughly two months before the indictment; all four defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Updates

2025-11-20 — Judge set October 2026 trial date for Thao and co-defendants [5]

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers tentatively scheduled the trial of Thao, Jones, and the Duongs to begin October 19, 2026, with jury selection expected the week prior.

2026-04-30 — Federal judge denied bid to suppress evidence [6, 7]

Judge Gonzalez Rogers rejected a motion by Thao and her co-defendants to toss evidence they alleged was obtained through deceptive or reckless investigative practices, also declining to hold an evidentiary hearing; the trial date remained set for October 2026.

2026-07-28 — Prosecutors previewed trial evidence in Thao corruption case [3, 4]

Ahead of an October 2026 trial, federal prosecutors filed court briefs describing evidence they intend to present, including recorded phone calls between Thao and Andy Duong and allegations involving an associate who took compromising videos of politicians. Thao and her co-defendants have pleaded not guilty and are seeking to exclude portions of the evidence before trial.

2026-07-28 — FBI informant Mario Juarez pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy; new filings detail 2019 favor to Duongs [8, 9]

Newly unsealed court filings revealed that Mario Juarez, the FBI informant identified as "Co-Conspirator 1" in the case, had pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to commit bribery with Thao, Jones, and the Duongs, and agreed to testify for prosecutors. The filings also detailed additional allegations, including that Thao, then an Oakland city councilmember, fed the Duongs information about city council deliberations on a lawsuit against their waste-management company as early as 2019, and that Jones was allegedly paid $90,000 of a promised $300,000-a-year no-show job before FBI raids began.