Southern California supervisor to plead guilty in COVID funds corruption case

Andrew Do, now the former the District 1 supervisor for Orange County, is admitting to accepting bribes in order to funnel COVID funds to his daughters

An Orange County, California district supervisor has resigned from his post and agreed to plea guilty to federal corruption charges.

Andrew Do, now the former the District 1 supervisor for Orange County, will plead guilty to a felony federal charge for accepting more than $500,000 dollars in bribes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a news release.

Do accepted bribes to vote in favor of giving more than $10 million in COVID funds to a charity affiliated with one of his daughters, prosecutors said.

The 62-year-old former supervisor was part of the five-member Orange County Board of Supervisors, which controls a $9 billion annual budget.

Paul Meyer, the attorney representing Do, told USA TODAY on Tuesday that “out of respect for the legal process, no statement is appropriate at this time.

“However, it is appropriate to convey Andrew Do’s sincere apology and deep sadness to his family, to his constituents in District One and to his colleagues,” Meyer said.

What is Do pleading guilty to?

In the plea agreement obtained by USA TODAY, Do is admitting to accepting $500,000 in bribes beginning in 2020 in exchange for voting in favor of sending millions of dollars to the Viet America Society.

“The money he misappropriated and accepted as bribe payments was taken from those most in need – older adults and disabled residents. Our community deserved much better,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.

Officials also said that the charity used the funds from the county to pay a business identified in court records as “Company #1.” The company received more than $3 million in payments over an almost three-year period.

After the charity increased the payments to “Company #1” to $108,000 a month, the unnamed company then began paying Rhiannon Do, the supervisor’s daughter, $8,000 a month, prosecutors say.

By February of this year, officials say she had already been paid $224,000. Moreover, Andrew Do in his plea agreement admitted that the unnamed company transferred more than $380,000 to an escrow company that his daughter used to purchase a home in Tustin, California.

Do also admitted to receiving other bribes disguised as payments to other companies that were then funneled to his other daughters.

“No one is above the law in Orange County and these charges should serve as a powerful warning to elected officials everywhere that actions have consequences and justice will be swift and it will be decisive,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.

Once Do enters his plea, he could face a maximum of five years in federal prison.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.