The Mercury News34%
A guide to every witness listed in ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s criminal case 5%
By Shomik Mukherjee2%
8/4/2026, 4:30:16 AM
Keywords: Oakland Fbi Raids, Sheng Thao, Oakland Mayor, Bribery Scheme, Corruption Case, Federal Witness List, Political Consultant, City Recycler, California Waste Solutions, Housing Contract, San Leandro Councilman, Vietnam Delegation, Campaign Manager, Chief Of Staff, City Administrator, Public Ethics Commission, Port Of Oakland, Fbi Special Agent, Irs Ci Special Agent, Postal Inspector
BS Summary: This article contains 14 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Appeal to Authority, and Biased Writer Voice, with Confirmation Bias as the most egregious example at 14.5% saturation with 223 hits. Analysis detected 869 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,539 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 12.6% and a BS Rank of 5% (27,537 of 28,722 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 95.90% of the article peer group.
OAKLAND — The criminal case involving Sheng Thao has extended through the former mayor’s entire orbit, leading federal prosecutors to name 68 witnesses who are expected to testify in the corruption case involving Thao and her romantic partner Andre Jones, along with father-and-son business partners David and Andy Duong.
Thao, removed by voters in November 2024 — months before she was indicted for the alleged bribery scheme — has pleaded not guilty along with her three co-defendants.
Their trial is expected to begin in October.
RELATED: Guilty plea, witness list reveal prosecutors’ case against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao
The star federal witness is likely to be Mario Juarez, a political consultant who pleaded guilty to conspiring with father-and-son business partners David and Andy Duong, who own city recycler California Waste Solutions, in a scheme to bribe Thao and her romantic partner Andre Jones to obtain a lucrative city housing contract.
In addition to nabbing Juarez, prosecutors have obtained a guilty plea from Bryan Azevedo, a former San Leandro councilman who admitted to accepting bribes in the alleged corruption scheme and joined Thao on a 2023 delegation to Vietnam paid for by a trade association tied to the Duong family.
Here are the other witnesses who are expected to testify when Thao, Jones and the Duongs face trial in October:
Thao’s inner circle & campaign staff
Julie Caskey: Thao’s campaign manager ahead of the 2022 mayoral election.
Last year, Caskey said she was still owed $60,000 for campaign work after records revealed that Thao’s chief of staff had once intimated that her boss considered using city funds to recoup campaign debts to Caskey.
Leigh Hanson: Thao’s former chief of staff, Hanson played a lead role in her administration, effectively running the top elected Oakland City Hall office after her boss was removed in late 2024.
Hanson was eventually fired last year after records surfaced suggesting she had referred to Black people as “tokens” while discussing Thao’s anti-recall campaign strategy.
Brandon Harami: A junior staffer in both Thao’s administration and mayoral campaign who appeared to be a close confidant of the former mayor.
He and Hanson have filed lawsuits against the city alleging wrongful termination.
Noah Finneburgh: A strategist and spokesperson for Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign.
Zach Goldman: A former staff member in the Thao administration who serves as political director of SEIU 1021, one of Oakland’s major public labor unions that backed Thao’s 2022 election bid.
Louansee Moua: Another strategist for the Thao campaign who also previously consulted for California Waste Solutions.
Francis Zamora: A former Thao campaign spokesperson who resigned shortly after Thao’s home was raided by federal agents on June 20, 2024.
Oakland City Hall administrators and officials
Tonya Allen: A Thao mayoral staffer who may testify about federal funds received under the Thao administration.
G.
Harold Duffey: A former interim city administrator who told federal investigators that he was pushed by Thao to appoint another city official, Larry Gallegos, to a high-ranking job — a key element of the alleged bribery scheme.
Steven Falk: Another former city administrator who preceded Duffey.
Larry Gallegos: The staff member accused of being handpicked by Thao’s bribers to secure housing dollars for Evolutionary Homes, a housing company led by Juarez and the Duongs.
Betsy Lake: A longtime city official who has overseen several notable public projects.
She currently serves as interim city administrator.
Jestin Johnson: The top city administrator hired by Thao in 2023.
Jelani Killings: An analyst for the city’s Public Ethics Commission who may testify about Thao’s financial disclosures.
Years before the federal corruption case, the ethics commission investigated the Duongs for concealing donations to local politicians.
Brittany Hines: A Thao mayoral staffer who may testify about federal funds received under her administration.
Latonda Simmons: A former longtime city staff member who prosecutors said had interactions with the Duongs and California Waste Solutions.
The business side — Evolutionary Homes and California Waste Solutions
Cesley Frost: A staffer at Evolutionary Homes who, according to prosecutors, was told by Juarez that contract proposals written up by the company were merely a “formality” because Thao had already agreed to buy hundreds of housing units with public money.
Julie Wedge: Another Evolutionary Homes employee whose pay was promised as a percentage of deals “already cut” by the company and the city, prosecutors said.
Chris Wedge: The husband of Julie Wedge and another Evolutionary Homes staffer.
Cecilia Mendez: Another Evolutionary Homes employee.
Sitting and former elected officials
Kevin Jenkins: The sitting Oakland council president and Thao’s former political ally who later fired all her residual staffers when he took over as interim mayor.
Nikki Fortunato Bas: An Alameda County supervisor and former Oakland council member who also previously allied with Thao on city policies.
Vietnam trip witnesses
Cheryl Ho: An employee of the Port of Oakland who helped plan the 2023 delegation to Vietnam.
Jimmy Hoang: Thao’s former security detail and driver.
Teresa Hoang: Also linked to the Vietnam trip.
Danny Wan: The former executive director of the Port of Oakland.
Everyone else
Phua Gilman: Vantage Solutions; tied to a fabricated employment letter for Jones.
Officer Luan Mai: Oakland police officer tied to an alleged May 2024 incident involving Juarez and California Waste Solutions.
Officer Bryant Ocampo: Oakland police officer also tied to the May 2024 incident involving Juarez.
Rebecca Scatena: Handled wire-transfer records for JP Morgan Chase involving the election mailers.
Taylor Blevins: Handled wire-transfer records for Bank of America.
Tavares Nichols: A city records custodian.
Joseph Pettway: A city records custodian.
Andrea Pomicpic: A city records custodian.
Sean O’Brien: A city vendor; handles records authentication.
Richy Abraham: A city vendor; handles records authentication.
Katherine Barclay: An FBI special agent and case agent who worked on the investigation, testifying about records obtained and data extracted from seized devices and accounts.
Tyler Nave: An FBI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of Andy Duong’s home, and recorded an interview with Duong.
Alexandra Bryant: An FBI special agent serving as a cell-site location data expert, analyzing cellphone data to pinpoint locations at specific times.
Stephanie Watt: An FBI staff operations specialist who worked as an analyst on the case, including review of phone toll records.
James Folger: An FBI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of Andy Duong’s home, including seizure of items and devices.
Katie Taylor: An FBI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of Andy Duong’s home, including seizure of items and devices.
Michael Kan: An FBI forensic examiner and expert witness on the tools and processes used to extract, review, and preserve data from seized devices and accounts.
James Webb: An FBI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of Thao and Jones’s residence, including seizure of devices and documents.
Rachael Grace: An FBI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of Thao and Jones’s residence, including seizure of devices and documents.
Jeff Byram: An FBI special agent who handled the extraction and processing of data received from Apple under search warrants.
Amanda Chung: An FBI special agent who handled the extraction and processing of data received from Apple under search warrants.
Christopher McCollow: A U.S.
Postal Inspector and case agent who worked on postal-related records and took part in the June 2024 search of David Duong’s residence.
Zackery O’Connor: A U.S.
Postal Inspector who took part in the June 2024 search of David Duong’s residence, including seizure of devices and documents.
Jeffrey Fitch: A U.S.
Postal Inspector who took part in the June 2024 search of David Duong’s residence, including seizure of devices and documents.
Aaron Parker: A U.S.
Postal Inspector who took part in the June 2024 search of David Duong’s residence, including seizure of devices and documents.
Sandra Alvarez-Ramirez: A U.S.
Postal Inspector who took part in the June 2024 search of David Duong’s residence, including seizure of devices and documents.
Christopher Wilkins: A senior USPIS forensic computer analyst who processed and extracted devices seized from David Duong’s home.
Pete Gonzalez: A senior USPIS forensic computer analyst who processed and extracted devices seized from David Duong’s home.
Christine Stegner: An IRS-CI special agent and case agent who worked on financial records and took part in the June 2024 search of California Waste Solutions.
Ben Nikssarin: An IRS-CI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of California Waste Solutions, including seizure of devices and documents.
Imran Khan: An IRS-CI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of California Waste Solutions, including seizure of devices and documents.
Michael Hammond: An IRS-CI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of California Waste Solutions, including seizure of devices and documents.
Jesse Bumanlag: An IRS-CI special agent who took part in the June 2024 search of California Waste Solutions, including seizure of devices and documents.
Cindy Ho: An IRS-CI special agent who handled processing of electronic evidence seized from California Waste Solutions.
Huy (Derrick) Dang: An IRS analyst who processed and extracted devices seized from California Waste Solutions.
Daniel Martinelli: An IRS analyst who processed and extracted devices seized from California Waste Solutions.
Speakers
62speakers77%attributed speech347writer words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageCesley Frost
41 attributed words3.4% of attributed speech71% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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Analysis
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