Judge Sets 2026 Trial Date in Bribery Case of Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

A federal judge has set a tentative start date next year for the corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and her three co-defendants.

Thao, her longtime partner Andre Jones, and businessmen David and Andy Duong, were indicted Jan. 9 in what federal prosecutors have described as an alleged “pay-to-play” scheme.

David Duong, the head of California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s curbside recycling provider, along with his son Andy, ran a company called Evolutionary Homes that aimed to sell converted shipping containers to Bay Area cities as housing for the homeless.

U.S. attorneys allege Thao agreed to take action as mayor to commit Oakland to purchase units from the Duongs’ housing company in exchange for kickbacks and favors for Thao and Jones, including the funding of negative campaign mailers targeting her opponents in the 2022 mayoral race. Thao also allegedly agreed to extend the Duongs’ recycling company contract with the city, and appoint senior city officials hand-picked by the Duongs and an unnamed co-conspirator.

The indictment laid out charges including conspiracy, bribery, honest services mail fraud and honest services wire fraud. Andy Duong was charged with an additional count of making false statements to a government agency.

All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Inside a federal courtroom in downtown Oakland on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers tentatively scheduled the trial for Oct. 19 of next year, with jury selection expected to take place the week prior.

The parties are expected to return in January to discuss deadlines for producing materials like witness and exhibit lists. Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Priedeman said federal prosecutors expect presenting their case in chief will take about three weeks, with the complete trial lasting no more than five weeks.

The investigation is ongoing, Priedeman said.

Attorneys for defendants in the case said prosecutors had turned over an enormous amount of discovery in the case, including 2.5 terabytes of data and voluminous documents.

Federal prosecutors said they had seized devices, including one phone and one laptop, from San Leandro City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, who was recently charged in a related conspiracy case.

Azevedo, whose case appears to be closely related to that of Thao, Jones and the Duongs, allegedly agreed to use his power as an elected official to benefit a company in exchange for his own personal financial gain. Prosecutors have said they are close to resolving Azevedo’s case and do not expect a trial.

Thao’s attorney, Jeff Tsai, said on Thursday that she plans to file papers to join a motion filed by attorneys representing David Duong in late October that asked Gonzalez Rogers to throw out evidence seized in a June 2024 raid of his home.

In their filing, Duong’s lawyers accuse the FBI of failing to disclose all relevant information about a key informant in the case in an affidavit used to secure the warrant to search Duong’s home, cars and business.

The informant, attorneys argued, has a history of fraud and dishonesty, the complete details of which, they said, were not included in the affidavit.

The informant, who is identified in a Jan. 9 indictment as “Co-Conspirator 1,” is widely believed to be businessman and two-time Oakland City Council candidate, Mario Juarez.