Former Orange County supervisor Andrew Do pleads guilty to bribery

SANTA ANA, California. – The former said he was “deeply sorry” for his actions. Orange County Controller Andrew Do pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal bribery conspiracy charge.

Do, 61, admitted in his plea agreement that in exchange for more than $550,000 in bribes, he voted on the Board of Supervisors starting in 2020 and that those votes directed more than $10 million in COVID relief funds to the Viet America Community, which includes his daughter Rhiannon. He worked according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

It was decided that the sentence would be given on March 31.

“I deeply regret what I did,” Do told U.S. District Judge James Selna when asked to describe the defendant’s crimes in his own words.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said he could face up to five years in prison. He told reporters he expected his office would push to the upper limit of the sentence in federal guidelines.

Selna said he had the authority to give Do a harsher sentence and that this sentence could be appealed. However, Do waives all his objections and cannot withdraw his defense unless the sentence exceeds five years.

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How much compensation Do may have to pay is still an issue to be resolved. That amount could be between $550,000 and $730,000, as stated in the plea agreement, but prosecutors may advise that proceeds from the sale of the Tustin home his daughter bought could be used for restitution.

Do’s attorney, Paul Meyer, said after the hearing: “We want to respect the legal process and will not discuss the case or the facts. Andrew Do’s admission of responsibility to the judge in court and his apology to his family and community are complete and sincere.”

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told reporters after Thursday’s hearing that it was a “tremendous day.”

Spitzer added that “(To) hear this in his own words was important and monumental.”

Spitzer said Do’s own explanation of his crimes “gives me confidence that we got it right.”

When asked who others who might have been involved in the plan were, Spitzer declined to comment.

“Obviously, this is an ongoing investigation,” Spitzer said, adding that it would not be fair to investigate anyone who has not been charged with a crime.

“We are not finished and we will pursue every individual involved,” Spitzer said. “We are absolutely committed and determined to fully compensate taxpayers.”

Spitzer said he was “embarrassed” that money spent on a veterans’ memorial in Westminster was “wasted”. He said Do’s replacement could be sworn in earlier than the usual date in January.

Do, who was dismissed at the end of the year, resigned from his executive position as part of the plea agreement.

It was a remarkable loss of power for the Vietnam War refugee, who served as a prosecutor in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and chief of staff to former Orange County Supervisor Janet, then a defense attorney before being elected to the Garden Grove City Council. Nguyen. He was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2015 and won another term in 2020.

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Some of the county money received by VAS was funneled through an unnamed outside company that ultimately paid Rhiannon Do, 23, $8,000 monthly, totaling $224,000 as of February 2024, prosecutors said. The company also transferred more than $380,000 to an escrow company, which Rhiannon Do used to buy a $1 million home in Tustin, prosecutors said. Other funds were directed back to Andrew Do to make property tax payments on properties belonging to him and his wife, while another $15,000 was used to pay off one of Andrew Do’s credit card bills, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“In total, Mr. Do and his family received more than $700,000 in bribes,” Estrada said at a news conference.

Estrada said Do’s voters “have a politician who puts his own needs above the needs of the people in his community.” “… Mr. Do represents the American Dream. He came to this country, worked hard, achieved success, was elected to public office, and threw everything aside to become rich.”

Estrada said what makes corruption worse is that “the people he steals and the money he takes are intended for the most vulnerable in our society.”

Andrew Do agreed to plead guilty to the federal bribery conspiracy charge while also reaching a separate but related plea agreement with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office; Under this agreement, he will resign as district supervisor and forfeit all retirement credits he has accumulated during that time. At the press conference, Spitzer said that he had been involved in the bribery scheme since 2020.

Rhiannon Do, a third-year UC Irvine law student, has agreed to fully cooperate with the investigation and will be allowed to enter a diversionary program. Prosecutors said the woman agreed to forfeit her Tustin home.

Another adult daughter of Do’s received $100,000, prosecutors said.

Andrew Do also faces a fine of up to $250,000.

Asked if anyone else might face charges, Estrada said the investigation is ongoing.

Andrew Do had already been stripped of his committee duties and his seat on the Orange County Transportation Authority board. Do was also condemned by his fellow supervisors, some of whom called on him to resign because they did not have the authority to fire him.

The firestorm around Do began last year when questions were raised about COVID-19 relief contractors provided to the Viet America Community. The turmoil escalated further in August when the county sued VAS to recover millions of dollars for unaccounted services tied to a program contract to deliver meals to seniors and the needy during the pandemic.

Do was not named in the lawsuit, but his daughter was accused of using some of the money to buy the house in Tustin. Do also has connections to VAS’s president, Peter Pham.

VAS officials insisted they prepared and distributed the meals during the outbreak, but failed to adequately account for the services. An attorney for VAS said its drivers had a hard time collecting all the paperwork as residents social distanced during the pandemic.

San Diego County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal, who was appointed to hear the county’s case because Do’s wife and Rhiannon’s mother is Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham, ordered VAS to fork out about $4.2 million if the county prevails. in the lawsuit he filed.

The district also filed a lawsuit against Hand in Hand Aid, an organization that subcontracts with VAS.

Federal investigators raided the homes of Peter Pham and Rhiannon Do in August, as well as other locations connected to the investigation into the alleged misuse of funds, including the home of Andrew Do.

The plea agreement also outlines prosecutors’ allegation that one of the unnamed conspirators used an air conditioning company paid $256,000 to bribe Do with $100,000. That $100,000 was paid to Do’s other daughter with three $25,000 checks from a company and another $25,000 check from an accomplice, prosecutors said.

Estrada said only 15% of the $9.3 million going to VAS, or about $1.4 million, was used as intended. Estrada said the government seized $2.4 million along with Tustin’s home and another home on 17th Street in Santa Ana.

Prosecutors said Do claimed in online videos that VAS provided 2,700 meals a week.