Federal authorities on Friday morning announced details of an indictment against recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her boyfriend and other associates.
CBS News Bay Area carried the press conference live. Thao turned herself in at an Oakland courtroom Thursday morning just as the press conference announcing the indictment was about to get underway.
Thao, her romantic partner Andre Jones, local businessman David Duong and his son, Andy Duong were named in the grand jury indictment. The San Francisco Chronicle broke the news that Thao would be facing criminal charges Thursday, citing an anonymous source.
U.S. Attorney's Office made the announcement Friday morning in a joint press conference with the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and a representative from the IRS Criminal Investigations Unit's Oakland field office.
"The indictment returned by the grand jury describes a corrupt scheme in which the defendants used bribes, mail fraud, wire fraud, and other illegal practices to manipulate and corruptly influence the levers of local government," said Patrick D. Robbins, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.
Robbins went on to note that the charges described in the indictment were just allegations and that the defendants were presumed innocent until their guilt is established at trial.
"The indictment charges a scheme that the defendant entered into, knowing that bribes would be offered and accepted by Thao and Jones, in exchange for allowing the Duongs to exercise illegal influence over the levers of city government," Robbins said. "The illegal conspiracy began on October 2022, before the November 2022 election."
The indictment comes two months after Oakland voters recalled Thao from office.
Last June, the FBI raided the home that Thao shares with Jones. Investigators also raided properties linked to the Duong family, who own a recycling company contracted with Oakland.
Members of the family have been accused of making illicit campaign donations to Thao and other politicians. A subsequent federal grand jury subpoena demanded that Oakland City Hall turn over a trove of documents in connection with the investigation.
"Our communities depend on local government for critical services," Robbins added. "The public needs to know it can trust those in charge of city hall to work for the best interests of the people of Oakland. This trust is broken when elected officials agree to a pay-to-play system to benefit themselves."
Robbins said Thao and the others named in the indictment were due to appear in an Oakland district court Friday morning at 10:30 a.m.
On Thursday when the news broke, Thao did not respond to a request for comment by CBS News Bay Area. The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office also would not confirm the indictment or offer comment on the planned announcement.
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