This is a crazy story and it’s not completely clear what is happening here but it looks as if someone might have attempted to murder a key witness in an FBI corruption investigation in Oakland.
Last June the FBI raided the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. At the time it wasn’t clearly why or whether Thao was even a target of the investigation. Thao was defiant and claimed she would be cleared once the investigation was complete, but that’s not what happened.
Mayor Thao was recalled by the voters in November and then in January of this year she was indicted for corruption along with her longtime partner and two men who held contracts for recycling with the city.
According to the indictment filed Jan. 9, 2025, in the weeks leading up to the City of Oakland mayoral election in November 2022 and following her election as mayor, Thao promised to take official actions as the mayor of Oakland to benefit David Duong and Andy Duong, in exchange for the Duongs providing various benefits to Thao and Jones. David Duong was the president and CEO of a recycling company that provided residential recycling collection services to Oakland households, and was also the chairman and co-owner of a housing company formed to develop and manufacture prefabricated modular homes. Andy Duong, David Duong’s son, was an employee of the recycling company and also a founder and co-owner of the housing company.
The indictment describes that Thao promised to commit the City of Oakland to purchase housing units from the Duongs’ housing company, extend the City’s contract with the Duongs’ recycling company, and appoint city officials selected by the Duongs. In exchange, David and Andy Duong promised to and did fund a $75,000 negative mailer campaign targeting Thao’s opponents in the mayoral election, and made $95,000 in payments to Jones for a no-show job with their housing company, with the promise of additional payments, all intended for the benefit of Thao and Jones.
There was another person involved in this transaction with the attack mailers. His name is Mario Juarez and he allegedly contracted a local company to print the mailers attacking Sheng Thao’s opponent. Juarez then gave the printer three checks totaling $51,000 to cover the mailing costs, but all three of those checks later bounced.
In any case, Juarez was apparently on the hook for a federal crime because writing a bad check to the post office is a federal matter. It’s widely believed that Juarez then became a cooperating witness who gave information to the FBI about the scheme between Mayor Thao, her boyfriend and the Duongs.
Here’s where the story takes a crazy twist, one that we’re only recently learning about. Just about a week before the June 2024 raid on Mayor Thao’s house, two men came to Juarez house and tried to kill him. It wasn’t reported until earlier this month that the SF Chronicle reported on the shootout and the arrest and release of the two men involved back in December.
Oakland police arrested two men in connection with what they believe was an attempt to shoot and kill a man later identified as a key figure and potential witness in the federal corruption case against former Mayor Sheng Thao, the Chronicle has learned.
The man, businessman and political operative Mario Juarez, returned fire outside his Fruitvale neighborhood home during the incident last June 9, and was unhurt…
…public records reviewed by the Chronicle and statements from Juarez suggest that federal officials may have believed the gunfight and the FBI’s bribery investigation were linked. The FBI raided Thao’s home on June 20 — the same day local officials filed paperwork in court describing their investigation of the shooting.
“Why was I targeted? Because I know too much,” Juarez said in a statement to the Chronicle.
Mario Juarez believes this was an attempted hit on him because he was a key witness. But if that’s true, why did the DA decline to bring charges and release the two men? There was literally a shootout in a suburban neighborhood and no one was charged.
But that seems to have changed in just the past week with the East Bay Times reporting one of the shooters has finally been charged.
County prosecutors charged Hermelindo Olber Ramosramos, 25, in the June 9 shooting at the East Oakland house of longtime political operative Mario Juarez. A two-time council candidate, Juarez is the likely unindicted “Co-Conspirator 1″ in the alleged bribery and pay-to-play scandal that federal authorities unmasked in January when they charged Thao, her partner, Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong, the father-and-son owners of California Waste Solutions with conspiracy and other federal offenses.
Ramosramos faces felony charges of shooting at an inhabited dwelling and shooting at an unoccupied vehicle. He was arrested last December, but not charged until last Friday, after several media outlets published articles and videos about the months-old arrest…
Details of Ramosramos’ alleged involvement in the June shooting remain shrouded in secrecy. A probable cause declaration — essentially, authorities’ written justification for making an arrest or filing charges — was not made public in his court file, and other records in his case were sealed.
So the timing seems very strange, but also the fact that no probably cause document has been filed in this case. It suggests the feds are still managing this case which also suggests it could be connected to the fraud case. In other words, maybe this really was an attempt to kill a key witness, not a random criminal act. If so, will we see a superseding indictment adding murder for hire to the charges against one or more of the defendants in this other case?
At this point it’s just speculation but clearly Juarez believes that is what happened. And if the corruption case is relying on his testimony, the FBI must think he’s somewhat reliable.
Just to add to this, Juarez claims he was attacked a month before the shootout by members of the Duong family. Conflicting police reports were filed in that incident with the Duong family claiming Juarez came to them demanding money and Juarez claiming he was beaten and stomped on. No charges have ever been filed in that case. Maybe this will all make sense eventually but for now it seems pretty strange.
