A federal trial beginning next week will test allegations that former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao traded favorable treatment for business interests linked to the owners of the city’s recycling contractor — and whether prosecutors can rely on a cooperating witness whose past has drawn sharp criticism from the defense. Jury selection is scheduled to start Oct. 13 at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland. Opening statements are expected after jury selection, and the trial could last about six weeks, ending around Thanksgiving. Thao, 41, her longtime partner Andre Jones, 55, California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong, 68, and his son Andy Duong, 37, face charges including bribery, conspiracy and fraud. Andy Duong is also charged with lying to the FBI. All four have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege that during Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign, the Duongs agreed to finance mailers attacking her opponents and arrange a $300,000 payment to Jones through a no-show job at Evolutionary Homes, a housing venture they had formed with Oakland businessman Mario Juarez. In return, prosecutors say, Thao pledged city business for the company’s shipping-container homes, support for Duong- and Juarez-selected city appointments, and an extension of California Waste Solutions’ Oakland recycling contract. The allegations remain unproven. Prosecutors say they will present text messages, emails, notes, recorded calls and videos, along with testimony from Juarez, who pleaded guilty to participating in the alleged scheme and is expected to describe his dealings with the defendants. Juarez became an FBI informant after a falling-out with the Duong family. Defense attorneys have argued that investigators relied heavily on his claims while failing to give judges a full account of his history of lawsuits and alleged dishonesty. They cited roughly 33 lawsuits involving Juarez between 1992 and 2022, including disputes with business partners, and sought to suppress evidence seized in searches of their clients’ properties. A judge rejected those motions but warned that Juarez’s credibility could pose a major problem for the prosecution. “You could have as your main witness someone who himself is a liar,” Chief District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said at a hearing last September. She said jurors would be able to hear evidence bearing on his credibility. The alleged arrangement began as the Duongs and Juarez developed Evolutionary Homes, which aimed to sell converted shipping containers as housing for people experiencing homelessness. Prosecutors say Thao, then a City Council member running for mayor, agreed to help the venture and its owners if elected. They allege she later urged an interim city administrator to appoint a person favored by the group to a department leadership role. The relationship between Thao and the Duongs allegedly deteriorated in 2023 after a Vietnam trade delegation sponsored by a business association chaired by David Duong. Prosecutors say Thao’s staffers heard her warn Duong that she could no longer work with him if a report emerged about alleged inappropriate conduct on the trip. Prosecutors further allege that Duong, his son and Juarez later paid $10,000 to a reporter’s associate to stop a story. Those claims have not been established at trial. In May 2024, Juarez and the Duongs gave conflicting accounts of a confrontation at California Waste Solutions’ offices. Juarez told police he was beaten by a group of men at the Duongs’ direction; the Duongs said he had failed to deliver on an agreement and arrived demanding more money. Juarez met with the FBI weeks later, and agents searched homes associated with Thao and the Duongs in June 2024. The case could also bring other East Bay political figures into the courtroom. Prosecutors have identified Oakland Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas and former Oakland City Administrator Jestin Johnson as potential witnesses, among others. Former San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, who pleaded guilty in February to accepting bribes in a related case involving Evolutionary Homes, is expected to testify for the government. Prosecutors also plan to present evidence about contacts between Juarez, Andy Duong and local officials, as well as allegations of other payments to public officials. A video recorded in October 2022 appears to show Juarez describing payments made after California Waste Solutions won Oakland’s recycling contract in 2014. Prosecutors say Juarez will testify that he was referring to bribes; the defense has sought to keep related allegations out of the trial, but the judge denied that request. The proceedings will place Oakland’s public contracting and political accountability under renewed scrutiny, while leaving jurors to decide whether the government’s documentary evidence supports its allegations and whether Juarez’s testimony is reliable.