Star Witness Describes Bribery Scheme in Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Trial
Mario Juarez testified for nearly five hours about a conspiracy to bribe former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and her partner with city contracts. Thao faces up to 95 years if convicted on all counts.
Key Witness Lays Out Bribery Plot Against Former Oakland Mayor
Mario Juarez, the government's star witness in the federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, took the stand Friday and spent nearly five hours describing how he and two business partners orchestrated a bribery scheme in exchange for lucrative city contracts, Courthouse News Service reports.
Juarez, 49, testified before an 18-person jury in San Francisco that he worked alongside Oakland businessman David Duong, 68, and his son Andy Duong, 37 — whose family owns the local recycling company California Waste Solutions — to bribe Thao, 41, and her romantic partner Andre Jones, 55. Juarez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and is cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Thao, Jones and the Duongs were indicted in January 2025 on eight counts between them, including conspiracy, bribery, fraud and making a false statement to a government official. Prosecutors have described the case as a corruption scheme of "paid and accepted bribes for the promise of future influence." All four co-defendants have pleaded not guilty. Thao faces a maximum sentence of 95 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Decades of Loyalty — and Cash-Stuffed Gym Bags
Juarez traced his relationship with the Duong family back to his first city council campaign in 2008, when the Duongs provided him with support. After a second failed campaign in 2012, he began helping the family with political matters, including lobbying the Oakland City Council to secure a recycling contract for California Waste Solutions in 2014.
He described the aftermath of that contract award in stark terms: people lined up outside the company's office to collect money, and Juarez said he personally filled two gym bags with cash — one containing $300,000, the other $50,000 — for two Oakland city council members. He said he received no personal payment for that work.
"Frankly, I didn't think I needed cash at that point; it was more valuable to have a friendship than money," Juarez told the jury.
His loyalty to David Duong, he said, extended to physical confrontations. He recounted getting into a shoving match with someone attempting to collect signatures to overturn the council's decision awarding the recycling contract.
"David reacted with pride when told about the shoving match," Juarez said. "Someone stood up to him; he valued loyalty; he saw that in me, saw that I was someone who would stand up for CWS."
The 2022 Mayoral Race and an Offer to Thao
Juarez testified that heading into the 2022 Oakland mayoral election, he and the Duongs had polling data suggesting Thao would lose. They approached her with a proposal: they would fund attack mailers against her opponents — routed through an independent expenditure committee to avoid direct campaign affiliation — in exchange for a commitment that, if elected, she would purchase 100 units of housing from Evolutionary Homes, a modular-home startup Juarez had co-founded with the Duongs.
Juarez said he spoke directly with Thao and Jones about the arrangement, including in a meeting where Thao asked for $300,000, to be paid through Jones. He said Thao later verbally agreed to a ten-year extension of California Waste Solutions' city contract, additional contracts tied to a nearby Army base, and the appointment of a specific official to the city's housing department.
That official, Larry Gallegos, was described by Juarez as "essential" to Evolutionary Homes' interests.
"He knew the inner workings of the city. If given a mandate, he would do it. He would do it the right way, he would do it legally and he would get it done," Juarez said.
Deal Expanded to $3 Million — Then Ran Into Trouble
The arrangement eventually grew to include $3 million for Jones and a commitment to purchase 300 housing units from Evolutionary Homes. However, Gallegos was ultimately offered only an interim deputy position rather than the full appointment, a development Juarez said he and Andy Duong found unacceptable.
"We didn't invest talent, money, hits, took the time out of our days because we like Sheng Thao," Juarez said. "We invested money in her because she would give us money in return — through contracts, extension on CWS, the Army base."
Much of U.S. Attorney Abraham Fine's questioning drew on text messages and WhatsApp exchanges between Juarez, Andy Duong, Thao and Jones, as well as entries from Juarez's Apple Notes and photographs taken by Andy Duong.
Juarez's testimony is set to continue next Thursday, when the defense will have the opportunity to cross-examine him. Representatives for all parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Source: Courthouse News Service