Attorneys give opening remarks in corruption trial of ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

The federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is in the books. Prosecutors and the defense for Sheng Thao and three other defendants giving their opening statements presenting two different versions of events. And our crime reporter, Henry Lee, was at the federal courthouse in Oakland and is here now after hearing from the attorneys. Henry? Yeah, Mike and Claudine, the feds say the jury will see e-mails, texts, photos, videos, and other evidence tying together Sheng Thao and the three other defendants in a quid pro quo bribery conspiracy. But defense attorneys say their clients did nothing wrong. In his opening remarks to the jury, a federal prosecutor said former Oakland Mayor Sheng Tao put her power up for sale, placing greed first by betraying her oath of office and taking bribes from businessman David Duong and his son Andy Duong. The Duong family runs California Waste Solutions, the city's recycling contractor, and Evolutionary Homes, which offered modular homes for the homeless. According to the prosecution, the Duongs secretly funded a negative mailer campaign to help Tao win the mayoral election in 2022. Tao allegedly agreed to install the Duong's hand-picked candidate as the city's interim head of housing and commit to buying tiny homes from their company. The Duongs allegedly also agreed to make bribe payments to Tao's significant other at the time, Andre Jones, in the form of a no-show job in part. Outside court, supporters of the Duongs held signs and rallied. And all the evidence is not enough for sending the guilty yet. The justice will come out with the Duong family. The jury will hear testimony from its key witness, political operator Mario Juarez, seen here, described as the Duongs' fixer, who also co-owned Evolutionary Homes with the Duongs until they had a falling out. At one point, Juarez was beaten up and robbed of his watch and chain, both of which were later found in Andy Duong's home when it was raided by the FBI, according to prosecutors. Juarez is hoping for a lenient sentence after he pleaded guilty in the scheme, as did former San Leandro City Council member Brian Acevedo, who will also testify. The feds say Acevedo set up an account in his wife's name to accept bribes in exchange for trying to help Evolutionary Homes land contracts in San Leandro. In his opening, Tao's attorney Jeffrey Chai had the former mayor stand up, saying this is the real Sheng Tao, who did not accept any bribes, and that the story being told by Juarez is, quote, pure fiction. An attorney for Andy Duong called Juarez a, quote, consummate hustler, bent on getting revenge against the Duongs and eager to get a sweetheart deal with the prosecution. The defense also says the government has taken messages involving their clients out of context and that alleged deals for those housing units never went through. Now, the feds say what matters is that Sheng Tao allegedly promised to do things in exchange for bribes, not whether she actually followed through. Testimony begins tomorrow. Live in studio, Henry Lee, KTVU, Fox 2 News. Henry, do we think the former mayor will be called to the stand and testify here? Well, in the jury selection, defense attorneys hinted that, hey, can you still be fair, prospective jurors, if our clients don't testify? So, obviously, it's always recommended that they don't. We'll see what happens. Yeah. Jury selection happened very quickly. Do we know how long this trial is expected to last? Well, it's happening over four to five weeks on selected days of the week. You know, one week will be all five days. Other weeks will be a couple, two or three days. Got it. Henry Lee, live tonight here in studio. Henry, thank you. Returning.