The complete dossier on Sheng Thao. Bought by the Duong crime family through bribes and no-show jobs. Federally indicted. Tracking her trial in real time.
Oakland, CA
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Recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s federal bribery trial starts next week. She is facing 95 years in prison.
On October 13, jury selection begins in Oakland. Opening statements follow. The case is expected to run about six weeks. Thao, her ex-boyfriend Andre Jones, and California Waste Solutions executives David and Andy Duong have all pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say the deal was cut before she ever took the oath. The Duongs would finance attack mailers against Loren Taylor and Ignacio De La Fuente and put Jones on a $300,000 no-show job at Evolutionary Homes. In return, Thao would commit Oakland to buying their shipping container housing, extend their recycling contract, and help install people they chose in city jobs.
When it became clear she was going to win, Mario Juarez texted Andy Duong, “So we may go to jail. But we are $100 million richer.” Duong answered, “Money buys everything.”
The payments to Jones started after that. The group discussed raising his cut toward $3 million if Oakland bought 300 units. Prosecutors say Thao proposed using emergency powers so the city could skip a normal bid. She later pressed the city administrator to put Larry Gallegos in housing even though he lacked the experience for the job.
Juarez was in the room when the deal was made. He pleaded guilty and is expected to walk the jury through what Thao agreed to and what she got in return. Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty in a related case and is set to testify too. Staffers are expected to say they heard Thao tell David Duong that if the Vietnam reporting came out, she could no longer work with him.
Oakland voted her out by a majority. Next week the people who paid for that term will get to tell a jury what they purchased.
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Noah Finneburgh, a former political consultant for Sheng Thao, testified in her corruption trial about an attack ad against opponent Loren Taylor that federal prosecutors say was part of a bribery conspiracy. ktvu.com/video/fmc-sj3zz3wcm…
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The revelation highlighted the second day of testimony in the trial of Thao and her three co-defendants. mercurynews.com/2026/10/19/m…
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ShengThaoFiles.com retweeted
Sheng Thao disavowed & decried “incredibly offensive” ad attacking opponent @lorenmtaylor in 2022 @Oakland mayoral race - and noted ind. expenditure account run by @mrmariojuarez was responsible. But @USAO_NDCA says ad was part of bribery conspiracy w/ties to Thao
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This is the campaign mailer now being discussed in the Sheng Thao bribery and corruption trial. I first reported this more than two years ago. Today, Thao's former campaign consultant told the court that he believed the mailer was racist for darkening Loren Taylor's face, Thao's contender for mayor. She won by only 677 votes.
Consultant Noah Finneburgh said today that he thought the campaign should put out a press release denouncing the mailer, but that Thao and her partner, Andre Jones, decided not to release /the statement because the mailer was helping them.
We have not heard in court yet what I reported in June 2024, that the Duongs, through their busiess partner Mario Juarez, funded the mailer.
nitter.siddz.com/dannoyes/status/180583…
Here's the mailer.
They darkened the face of Sheng Thao’s opponent for mayor, made his eyes red like the devil in a mailer that went out to 168,000 homes just days before the election.
Loren Taylor believes that mailer tipped the balance; he lost by only 677 votes and is preparing to run again when/if Thao goes.
For the first time, hear a first-hand account of Andy Duong agreeing to pay for that mailer in apparent violation of campaign finance laws. The FBI raided both Duong’s home and that of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. What comes next?
My exclusive report here: abc7ne.ws/4cjPsoy
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SHENG THAO CORRUPTION TRIAL JUDGE STARTS DAY WITH A SHARP WARNING — Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers tells attorneys for both sides, “If you see a juror in an elevator, do not get in it!”
That came after a request from David Duong attorney, Ed Swanson, that the judge tell the jury that attorneys can’t speak to them outside of court.
Former Sheng Thao chief of staff Leigh Hanson back on stand after a full day Thursday.
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Testimony in the corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is scheduled to resume this morning. trib.al/L6cgXoU
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Day 4 of the Sheng Thao trial.
The FBI investigation that led to the raids and the indictment started with a tip in February 2023, less than two months after she took office.
Special Agent Katherine Barclay told the jury Monday that the Oakland Public Ethics Commission flagged the attack mailers that went out against her opponents in the final days of the 2022 race. The printer who produced them said Mario Juarez never paid. That complaint led agents to Juarez’s iCloud. On it they found a WhatsApp note shared with Andy Duong titled “Deal Points for Sheng Thao :: Election :: Post Election::.” It listed the favors on both sides, including $75,000 for those mailers from California Waste Solutions.
The mailer itself darkened Loren Taylor’s face and gave him red eyes. It went to roughly 168,000 homes. Thao won by 677 votes. Her former campaign consultant, Noah Finneburgh, testified that he thought the piece was offensive and wanted the campaign to denounce it. He said Thao and Andre Jones decided not to, because the mailer was helping them.
Outside the courthouse, local advocates held a press conference calling for an end to the culture of corruption at City Hall. Former recall leader Seneca Scott said, “The city of Oakland is still run by the same corrupt machine that gave us Sheng Thao. Nobody has even apologized for supporting her.”
Former Councilmember Loren Taylor, who lost to Thao by those 677 votes, said coordination between the Thao campaign and the attack ad “seems pretty apparent to me.”
Testimony resumes Thursday.
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See the evidence and follow every day of the trial at ShengThaoFiles.com.
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Day 3 in the Sheng Thao trial.
Leigh Hanson, Thao’s former chief of staff, spent hours on the stand Thursday telling the jury what she saw inside the mayor’s office. She described Andre Jones (Sheng Thao’s lover), who was not a city employee, sitting in on sensitive meetings. In one about firing Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong, Hanson walked out because his presence risked privileged information. She said Jones later told her, “We’ll see which one of us is left at the end of the day.”
She also testified that she clashed with Thao over hiring Larry Gallegos as interim deputy director of housing. Prosecutors say that appointment was part of the plan to steer city money toward Evolutionary Homes. Hanson said she did not think he was the right fit and thought they had agreed to keep him in his existing role. Thao overruled her.
The sharpest moment came on the 2023 Vietnam trip paid for in part by the Duongs. Hanson said she warned Thao against going so early in her term. After they returned, the office was contacted about allegations involving young women and potential sex trafficking of minors on the trip. Hanson testified that Thao was furious with Andy Duong and said, “I hate that fucking playboy. He’s always been trouble; he’s going to ruin my career.”
Hanson returns to the stand Monday for more cross-examination. The trial resumes then.
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Follow every day at ShengThaoFiles.com.
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Day 2 in the Sheng Thao trial.
The prosecutor opened with the line the defense did not want the jury to hear.
“This is a case about a public official who put her power up for sale.”
That was Assistant U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine this morning in Oakland federal court, on the first day of the Sheng Thao bribery trial. He told the jury Thao and Andre Jones were open for business, and that David and Andy Duong were willing to pay for results. “This is not politics as usual,” he said. “This is politics as profit.”
The government’s case is the same one the indictment laid out. Attack mailers against her opponents. A no-show job for Jones at Evolutionary Homes. In return, a recycling contract extension, city housing money for the Duongs’ container homes, and appointments they wanted. When it looked like she had won, Mario Juarez texted Andy Duong, “So we may go to jail. But we are $100 million richer.” Duong wrote back, “Money buys everything.”
Thao’s lawyer, Jeffrey Tsai, called the story pure fiction and said there was never a bribe agreement. The defense spent the day trying to make the case about Juarez instead of Thao. Prosecutors said they will back him with the texts, the taped calls, the videos, and the financial records. Juarez pleaded guilty and is expected to walk the jury through the deal. Leigh Hanson, Thao’s former chief of staff, is set to be the first witness Thursday.
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Follow every day of the trial at ShengThaoFiles.com.
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Ex-Mayor Sheng Thao betrayed Oakland by making herself “open for business” to illegal bribes before stepping foot into the mayor’s office, federal prosecutors declared Wednesday at the start of a federal corruption trial… mercurynews.com/2026/10/14/p…
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ShengThaoFiles.com retweeted
During opening statements in the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, prosecutors and the defense presented two very different accounts of the case. trib.al/Vs4oZNR
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Former Oakland, Calif., Mayor Sheng Thao orchestrated a wide-ranging bribery scheme exchanging payments for access to political power in the lead up to her term, federal prosecutors told a jury Wednesday. news.bloomberglaw.com/litiga…
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ShengThaoFiles.com retweeted
Former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao, her romantic partner, and a father and son who run recycling and modular housing companies are on trial for bribery, conspiracy, and mail and wire fraud. Here’s what to expect.
📝: @jessjblough sfstandard.com/2026/10/14/sh…
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ShengThaoFiles.com retweeted
Oakland Corruption Trial Update:
Duongs organized some sort of protest with signs outside courthouse, claiming that the case is racial discrimination. 😂🤦🏽♂️
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Recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao corruption trial opening arguments today, here are my thoughts;
1. Govt just gave their opening statement. Nothing unexpected, but I have no idea how they intend to defend these charges. The entire deal is laid out in detail in text messages between Mario and Andy (fuckin retards...)
2. Like every bullet point of the whole plan in detail. Plus text message acknowledgement that they could all go to jail for this.
3. Audio recordings of David at Evolutionary Homes board meetings acknowledging that he might go to jail for this.
4. Govt opening acknowledged Mario is no saint but dismissed notion that it mattered because the whole conspiracy was laid out in such detail on text and in Andy's own phone notes.
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ShengThaoFiles.com retweeted
UPDATE: No comment from ex-former @Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, then-partner Andre Jones & businessman David Duong of @CalWasteSol & his son Andy Duong after their attys & @USAO_NDCA give opening remarks in corruption trial. @FBISanFrancisco @IRS_CI @USPIS_SF case. 4,5:15 p.m. @KTVU
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