Former Orange County supervisor sentenced to five years for bribery

SANTA ANA, California (CN) — Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Monday for one count of bribery, which he pleaded guilty to last year.

“Public corruption wreaks damage far beyond the monetary loss to the county,” said U.S. District Judge James Selna when he delivered the verdict. “When the people don’t trust the government, we have a big problem in this country.”

Do, 61, was born in Saigon and fled with his family to California after the South Vietnamese government fell in 1975. He became an attorney and worked for a time as a prosecutor in Orange County. A member of the Republican Party, Do was elected to the Garden Grove City Council in 2008, and the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2015.

In his plea agreement, Do admitted he helped steer around $12 million in Covid-19 pandemic relief contracts — money from state and federal governments distributed by the county — toward two nonprofits he had personal connections to: the Viet America Society, which received the lion’s share of the money, and the Hand-to-Hand Relief Organization. Much of the money was earmarked to deliver meals to seniors and people living with disabilities. The founders of the two nonprofits spent most of the money on personal expenses and investments, like purchasing commercial and residential properties.

Some of that money — about $550,000 — made its way back to Do’s daughters. The Viet America Society put 23-year-old daughter Rhiannon Do on its payroll, paying her $8,000 a month for a total of $224,000.

In a memorandum filed with the court prior to sentencing, Do’s lawyers asked for a sentence of two years and nine months in prison, writing: “Andrew Do received no actual payment to himself — all significant funds were provided to his daughter Rhiannon Do — Andrew Do was willfully blinded to the violations by the desire to see benefit to his adult daughter, and his belief that his daughter was providing worthwhile services to those who provided the benefits to her. He now recognizes how completely wrong he was in this catastrophic self-delusion.”

In a letter filed with the court, Do wrote: “In retrospect, I can’t believe that I did not see the evil of allowing this non-profit (whose money came from the county) to assist my daughter in purchasing a home. I was blinded by a father’s seeing his daughter as being worth every penny of what they paid her.” He added: “I have more regret and shame than words can convey.”

In court on Monday, Do’s Orange County-based attorney Paul Meyer told the judge the “original contracts that this case is about” were awarded years before Viet America Society founder Peter Anh Pham “had anything to do with Do’s daughters.” He added: “It’s a unique set of circumstances for a bribery cases.”

U.S. District Attorney Nanor Kiss said it didn’t matter when Do’s daughter was paid — Do admitted in his plea agreement that he voted to award the contracts to the Viet America Society knowing that the payments back to his daughter would be forthcoming.

“This isn’t a unique case,” Kiss said. “He acknowledged that he was acting with the intent to be influenced.”

Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Do to the statutory maximum of five years in prison. Selna, a George W. Bush appointee, expressed a degree of irritation that he couldn’t give Do an even longer sentence.

“I don’t believe that anything less than maximum sentence reflects the seriousness of crime,” Selna said.

After the sentence, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said, in a written statement: “Elected officials have a sworn duty to put their constituents’ interests ahead of their own. Public money intended to assist aging and ailing pandemic victims instead filled the coffers of Do, his family, and insiders."

On Friday, an indictment was unsealed charging the two founders of the Viet America Society and the Hand-to-Hand Relief Organization, Peter Anh Pham and Thanh Huong Nguyen, with counts of bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. Nguyen was indicted on Monday; Pham, meanwhile, is considered a fugitive from justice.

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