OAKLAND, Calif. — The star witness in the corruption trial against ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao resumed his testimony Thursday in an Oakland federal courtroom, recounting a scheme to bribe another East Bay politician — in that case, then-San Leandro Councilman Bryan Azevedo — with thousands of dollars.

The allegations by Mario Juarez highlighted the first portion of testimony Thursday by the government’s star witness in the trial of Thao and three others, which entered its fourth week. It came after hours of questioning on Friday by federal prosecutors, who claim Thao conspired with her romantic partner, Andre Jones, and the father-son business duo of David and Andy Duong to sell the power of her office for potentially millions of dollars in bribes.

Among the companies that stood to benefit was Evolutionary Homes, a fledgling outfit founded by Juarez and the Duongs in October 2022 that sought to sell shipping containers retrofitted as homes for mothers and children living on Oakland’s streets, according to prosecutors.

Appearing in a dark suit jacket, light blue shirt and no tie, Juarez recalled a desire by the Duongs to sell as many housing units as possible to governments across the region. In addition, Thao expressed a preference for another city to buy housing units and act as a pilot program before Oakland committed to the purchase, Juarez testified.

That’s when Andy Duong had the idea to approach Azevedo about buying units from the company, Juarez said. The two had a long relationship, and Andy Duong had said that “he had him in his pocket.”

The bribery deal came together quickly, Juarez recalled.

“Bryan had discussions with Andy and myself as to the fact that he was in need of money,” Juarez testified. “We then proposed to Bryan that a way for him to make money was for the city of San Leandro to buy these units. And in return for buying a certain amount of units, he’d receive a commission, we’d call it.”

Ultimately, the trio held discussions on Azevedo receiving a 10% cut of each housing unit purchased from Evolutionary Homes by the city of San Leandro. Initially, they settled on the city pursuing 10 to 21 housing units, with many slated to be used for a village to house San Leandro Police Department recruits.

As with the bribery scheme allegedly involving Thao, the kickbacks to Azevedo were set to flow through the councilman’s spouse, Juarez said.

“We were trying to hide the money,” Juarez said.

Defense attorneys are expected to get their first opportunity to cross-examine Juarez later on Thursday — providing a sentinel moment in the trial, given the defendants’ leading strategy of attacking Juarez’s credibility. Defense attorneys made clear in their mid-October opening statements that prosecutors’ entire case amounted to nothing more than the imagined lies of a man with a history of scamming others, referring to him as “the master of half-truths” and “a consummate hustler.”

The attorneys have even gone so far as to suggest he lied to prosecutors in order to secure a more lenient sentence for his own crimes. Juarez is one of two people — along with former San Leandro City Councilman Bryan Azevedo — known to have accepted plea deals in exchange for their testimony on behalf of the government.

In prior testimony Friday, Juarez recalled collaborating closely with Thao, Jones and the Duongs on the alleged scheme — meeting multiple times in person to iron out their illicit pact, then spelling out detailed rules for how the five of them would communicate, so as to limit evidence against them.

“We didn’t want to seem like we were in cahoots,” Juarez recalled.

The alleged pact called for the Duongs to spend tens of thousands of dollars on controversial campaign mailers ahead of the November 2022 election to help lift Thao into office, while also funneling money to Jones through an alleged $300,000-a-year “no-show” job, Juarez testified. At one point, the Duongs agreed to increase that compensation up to $3 million, provided Thao and Jones fulfilled their end of the bargain, Juarez claimed.

In exchange, prosecutors say, Thao promised broad influence within City Hall for the Duongs — replete with hand-picked appointments and staff hires directed by the family — along with millions of dollars in new and renewed city contracts for their companies. Those businesses included the Duongs’ recycling company, California Waste Solutions, as well as Evolutionary Homes.

Also on Friday, Juarez described a $10,000 payoff that David Duong made to spike a news story being pursued by a reporter regarding Azevedo interacting with prostitutes while tagging along on a high-profile delegation trip to Vietnam in summer 2023.

Juarez recalled Thao calling the Duongs later that year, after a reporter for East Bay Insiders, Steve Tavares, contacted her office seeking comment on those allegations. The allegation deeply upset David Duong, Juarez testified.

“For the first time, I had seen a very worried David Duong that I had never seen before,” Juarez testified.

Juarez first suggested the Duong family buy the entire outlet, and that the deal would be “structured in such a way that we would have editorial rights to not publish stories.”

Juarez later suggested that the family try to influence someone close to Tavares.

They settled on the latter plan, agreeing to pay $10,000 to Shawn Wilson, a close associate of Tavares who routinely appears on a podcast with him. The intent of the payment was to kill the story, Juarez said.

David Duong later made the payment in a December 2023 dinner meeting in Livemore attended by Wilson, Juarez and Andy Duong.

David Duong willingly went along with the idea, Juarez said.

“All he cared is that the story didn’t come out,” Juarez testified.

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