The Oakland Bribery Case and the Case for Abolishing the DOJ’s Name

Editor’s Note: I propose that the United States rename the Department of Justice to the Department of Prosecution. Everyone knows that justice is supposed to be the outcome of an adversarial but fair trial (prosecution vs. defense), not the characteristic of one side. In the following story, please be advised that when I use “Department of Prosecution,” its official name is the Department of Justice.

Oakland, CA: Prosecutors for the US Department of Prosecution (DOP) say recycling executive David Duong bribed Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, starting with $75,000 for negative mailers against her opponents.

Then, he allegedly followed up with a $95,000 payment—to the mayor’s boyfriend—for a no-show job.

In return, prosecutors say Mayor Thao promised Duong, the man they call “The Trash King” in the Bay Area, an extended recycling contract and to purchase modular housing units for the unhoused, a crisis in Oakland.

Federal prosecutors indicted the former mayor in January 2025. They also indicted her boyfriend, Trash King Duong, and his son, Andy, on conspiracy, bribery, and mail and wire fraud.

They all face more than 20 years if convicted. They all pleaded not guilty.

The Alleged Bribe

There is some hair on this prosecution.

For one thing, Mayor Thao never delivered on her end of the alleged bribe.

She did not extend Duong’s recycling contract with Oakland, which was in effect before she became mayor and remains in effect, running until 2034. (Duong, born in Vietnam, who fled as a teenager when America lost the war, also has the recycling contract for San Jose.)

Mayor Thao also did not get the city to buy a single modular home for the unhoused people who still live in tents and on the streets of Oakland.

As for the bribe payout, Duong did not actually pay for the mailers. Nobody did.

As for the no-show job, boyfriend Andrew Jones did get 95k, and he signed a commission contract for Duong’s company. (Most bribes don’t have signed contracts and checks.) Duong paid Jones a draw on commissions, paid in advance for selling housing units that never sold.

The housing company imploded – not because Mayor Thao did not arrange to buy housing units – but because a partner in the company – a man named Mario Roberto Juarez – took a million dollars to build 50 units. He kept the money and delivered only two units.

We have a bribe unpaid, or at least not fully paid, and nothing to show for it. The mayor did zilch.

The prosecutors say that it doesn’t matter if Duong paid or did not pay, or if the mayor did or did not do anything in return – the point is they conspired to do it.

The  Star Witness

The hair on the prosecution is this: The only witness – the sole guy who can testify that they conspired is Juarez, the same guy who allegedly embezzled the $1 million.

It gets better: Juarez is the guy who paid for the mailers, but he really didn’t. He bounced the check to the printer. The mailers went out, and the printer took the hit.

The mailers went out, but nobody paid for them. Why? Because the star witness bounced the check. Juarez, he’s the feds’ star witness. And even better: The Alameda County DA indicted Juarez for bad check felony fraud. Then he went to the feds and told them about the “bribe.”

The Department of Prosecution loved his story. It’s big. It’s grand. It’s headline-making. It’s trophy time.

Wait, it gets better. Of course, Juarez gets immunity as a cooperator, and better yet, he admits he devised the whole bribe scheme. He developed the plan and executed it. He went to the mayor and met with Duong, arranging the bribe (or so he says). The two meetings with the mayor had the curious circumstance that only Juarez was there. There is no recording; it’s just his word that the mayor was willing to be bribed.

He gets off the hook not only for the bribe, but for the bad check (which was supposedly the first half of the bribe) – even though he was the engine, the originator, the guy who did all the talking, the intermediary, the go-between.

There is not one shred of evidence that ties the mayor and Duong—just Juarez’s testimony.

The Deal

And the cherry on top of the federal insane sundae: The feds got the Alameda DA to drop the felony bad check charge against Juarez and stop an ongoing state investigation into $5 million in mortgage and bank fraud allegedly committed by Juarez, which would have put him in jail for years if he were convicted, and three reputable victims said he was guilty.

So Juarez, who hatched the bribery plot (if it really happened), does not have to make good on his bad check to the printer, and gets off on $5.3 million in fraud, and the Department of Prosecution can go after a $170,000 bribe that never got anybody anything – except Juarez.

The Odour of Politics

It is a shit case and it has the odour of politics and ambition – by prosecutors and not justice – but you judge it for yourself.

Here is the indictment.

Fun Facts

Coincidence: The Department of Prosecution unsealed the indictment on the last day of the Biden administration. Duong was a large contributor to Trump.

Coincidence: The Department authorized an FBI raid on the mayor’s home with typical jackboots and a media tip-off four months before Mayor Thao faced a special recall election. She lost.

Little Known Fact: Not mentioned in the indictment:  Under the Oakland City Charter, the eight-member City Council alone awards contracts. The mayor does not vote, even to break a tie. Legally, the mayor could not deliver on the bribe; she could not buy housing units or extend the recycling contract for which Duong allegedly bribed her to do.

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

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