Jackson Jambalaya

 The Justice Department (Northern District of California) issued the following statement. 

An eight-count indictment was unsealed today charging former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her longtime romantic partner Andre Jones, and local businessmen David Trung Duong and Andy Hung Duong with bribery offenses, and charging Andy Duong with making false statements to government agents.

According to the indictment filed Jan. 9, 2025, in the weeks leading up to the City of Oakland mayoral election in November 2022 and following her election as mayor, Thao promised to take official actions as the mayor of Oakland to benefit David Duong and Andy Duong, in exchange for the Duongs providing various benefits to Thao and Jones. David Duong was the president and CEO of a recycling company that provided residential recycling collection services to Oakland households, and was also the chairman and co-owner of a housing company formed to develop and manufacture prefabricated modular homes. Andy Duong, David Duong’s son, was an employee of the recycling company and also a founder and co-owner of the housing company.

The indictment describes that Thao promised to commit the City of Oakland to purchase housing units from the Duongs’ housing company, extend the City’s contract with the Duongs’ recycling company, and appoint city officials selected by the Duongs. In exchange, David and Andy Duong promised to and did fund a $75,000 negative mailer campaign targeting Thao’s opponents in the mayoral election, and made $95,000 in payments to Jones for a no-show job with their housing company, with the promise of additional payments, all intended for the benefit of Thao and Jones.

Once Thao became Mayor of Oakland in January 2023, she allegedly took steps in furtherance of the corrupt relationship with the Duongs, including using her influence to help appoint a high-level City of Oakland official selected by David and Andy Duong, and requesting that members of her staff meet with and tour the Duongs’ housing company.

Thao allegedly benefitted from the payments that the Duongs made to Jones. Financial records indicate that before Jones began receiving payments as a result of the bribery scheme, Thao either paid the entirety of or split with Jones the rent for their shared residence. However, starting in January 2023, soon after Jones began receiving payments as part of the bribery scheme, Jones began paying the entirety of their rent. In addition, beginning in January 2023, Jones increased his contribution to, or paid the entirety of, shared bills with Thao, including household utility bills and mobile phone bills.

Defendants allegedly took steps to conceal their bribery scheme by, among other actions: at Thao’s direction, making the bribe payments to Jones to avoid a paper trial to Thao; misrepresenting that Jones had a legitimate job with the Duongs’ housing company to mask the bribery payments; creating false invoices for the bribe payments from the Duongs’ recycling company; and failing to disclose benefits received on California Form 700, Statement of Economic Interests.

“The public deserves honesty and transparency from City Hall. When elected officials agree to a pay-to-play system to benefit themselves rather than work for the best interests of their constituents, that breaches the public trust,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins. “This indictment reaffirms the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s commitment to root out, investigate, and prosecute corruption in our local governments.”

“Our communities are entitled to leaders who act in their best interest, free from the shadow of corruption,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Dan Costin. “Today’s actions demonstrate our resolute determination to protect the integrity of our government and ensure accountability for those who betray the public’s trust.”

“To protect the public trust, Postal Inspectors worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners at the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) to investigate and prosecute those individuals responsible for fraud schemes committed against a government agency, businesses, and the public,” said San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Stephen M. Sherwood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

“The alleged crimes committed against the citizens of Oakland by former Mayor Thao and her co-conspirators are a clear breach of public trust and cannot be tolerated,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen. “Public corruption schemes are rooted in greed and typically leave a money trail behind. IRS-CI specializes in following that trail and building cases that lead to justice.”

The indictment charges each defendant with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B) or 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(2); one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349; one count of honest services mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1346; and two counts of honest services wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1346. Andy Duong was also charged with one count of making false statements to government agents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2).

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count under 18 U.S.C. § 1349, 18 U.S.C. § 1341, and 18 U.S.C. § 1343, a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count under 18 U.S.C. §§ 666(a)(1)(B) and (a)(2), and a maximum of five years in prison for the count under 18 U.S.C. § 371. Andy Duong faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the count under 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

The defendants are scheduled to make their initial federal court appearance in Oakland at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2025, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly K. Priedeman, Abraham Fine, and Lloyd Farnham are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Amala James and Madeline Wachs. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI, USPIS, and IRS-CI.