Former Oakland Mayor Is Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges
The New York Times
Sheng Thao, who was recalled by voters in the California city in November, said last year that she had done nothing wrong. She pleaded not guilty to the charges on Friday.
Sheng Thao, who was ousted as the mayor of Oakland, Calif., just two months ago amid persistent frustrations with crime, has been indicted on federal corruption charges, prosecutors announced on Friday.
Ms. Thao is among four people being charged. The federal indictment also names Ms. Thao’s boyfriend, Andre Jones; the head of a local waste company, David Trung Duong; and Mr. Duong’s son, Andy Hung Duong.
Patrick D. Robbins, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, said on Friday that Ms. Thao in October 2022 had agreed to extend a city contract with the waste company, California Waste Solutions, buy housing from the Duongs and use her influence to help them in exchange for a campaign mail effort and side payments that would benefit her and Mr. Jones.
California Waste Solutions then spent $75,000 on an attack mailer that helped Ms. Thao’s campaign in the 2022 mayoral election, prosecutors said. After Ms. Thao took office, the company paid $95,000 to Mr. Jones for a “no-show” job and had promised additional payments to the couple in exchange for Ms. Thao’s influence at City Hall, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors alleged that Ms. Thao followed through by taking steps to help companies owned by the Duongs and by appointing a high-level city official that they had selected.
Ms. Thao faces six charges, including bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud. Ms. Thao and the rest of the defendants pleaded not guilty at their arraignment hearings on Friday.
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