Secret recordings detailing alleged deal played in corruption trial of ex-Oakland mayor Sheng Thao
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Government prosecutors played secret recordings Wednesday in the federal bribery and corruption trial involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her partner Andre Jones, and California Waste Solutions executives David Duong and Andy Duong.
The recordings, introduced during testimony from Cecilia Mendez, offered jurors a look at discussions surrounding a plan to sell converted shipping containers for homeless housing to the City of Oakland and other entities.
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Mendez testified that she attended board meetings with her business partner, Mario Juarez, along with David Duong, Andy Duong and others. She confirmed that she secretly recorded the meetings on her cellphone.
Those discussions centered on Evolutionary Homes, a venture that sought to sell converted shipping containers for use as homeless housing.
Federal prosecutors allege that the Duongs and Juarez bribed then-Mayor Sheng Thao and Jones to help secure the city's purchase of the container homes. In one recording played in court, David Duong said the idea originated with his son, Andy.
"I have to be very careful of what I'm doing and I have to watch very careful so I don't get my brother and sister and daughter get back to me and say that, 'Hey, this project screw up because you trying to back up your son,'" David Duong said in the recording.
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Another recording focused on an alleged payment to Jones. According to the recording, Juarez said the Duongs paid Jones $85,000, but that Jones and Thao had not followed through on an agreement to facilitate the purchase of the homes by the city.
MARIO JUAREZ: "I said, 'Listen. I don't understand what this is about, and you're not doing the deal that you promised. You promised that you were going to get this done. We have a contract and everything else.' 'Well, I don't remember what the contract says,' he said that to me. He -- and so I find that to be very -"
DAVID DUONG: "Is he drunk?"
MARIO JUAREZ: "He only had a drink."
In another portion of the recordings played for jurors, Juarez said Jones was asking for an additional $20,000, calling the request "insulting."
"Tell him to go to Mexico to collect," David Duong responded.
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The Evolutionary Homes units were made in Mexico.
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"If he goes to Mexico, I'm going to kill him. He won't come back alive," Juarez then said.
The recordings came after eight days of opening statements and testimony. Seven On Your Side Investigates spoke with Wilson Leung, a former federal corruption prosecutor in New York, about their potential impact on the jury.
Asked about the possible effect of the recordings, Leung said: "I think recordings tend to be some of the most effective evidence, because you hear the defendants own voice while, in this case, while the alleged misconduct is happening."
During cross-examination, defense attorneys highlighted Mendez's 2019 criminal record, including convictions for grand theft, posing as a real estate professional and identity theft. Jurors heard that the felony convictions were later reduced to misdemeanors.
The trial continues in federal court in Oakland.
