The federal corruption trial of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao resumed Thursday after almost a week off, NBC Bay Area reported. The government's star witness, businessman Mario Juarez, was expected back on the stand.
Juarez has pleaded guilty to bribing a public official and is testifying for the prosecution in hopes of a lighter sentence. He has testified that he and co-defendants David and Andy Duong of California Waste Solutions backed Thao for mayor after polling showed her losing, paying for attack mailers in exchange for promised political support and city business.
He also testified that Thao asked for $300,000 tied to a proposed city purchase of 100 modular homes from Evolutionary Homes, his company, with payments routed through her then-partner Andre Jones. Jones is also a defendant. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Cross-examination could be long. East Bay Times reporter Nathan Gartrell told KALW that each of the four defendants gets to question every witness, and the trial is already behind schedule. "I think it's going to be a long, dragged-out, kind of brutal cross-examination," he said.