### OC Supervisor Andrew Do Resigns and Pleads Guilty in Federal Bribery Case

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do has agreed to vacate his seat and plead guilty to a federal bribery conspiracy charge, prosecutors revealed. The investigation focused on significant county funds directed to a nonprofit COVID-19 relief organization employing Do's daughter.

Prosecutors stated that Do, 62, will plead guilty to felony conspiracy to commit bribery. He admitted to accepting over $550,000 in bribes in exchange for votes that allocated more than $10 million in COVID relief funds to the Viet America Society (VAS), where his daughter, Rhiannon, worked. This arrangement started in 2020.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, some of the county money was funneled through an unnamed company that paid Rhiannon Do $8,000 monthly, accumulating to $224,000 by February 2024. Additionally, the company transferred over $380,000 to an escrow account, which Rhiannon used to purchase a $1 million home in Tustin. Part of the funds also covered Andrew Do's property tax payments and one of his credit card bills.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada commented on the case by saying, "By putting his own interests over those of his constituents, the defendant sold his high office and betrayed the public's trust… Corruption has no place in our politics."

In addition to pleading guilty at the federal level, Do reached a plea agreement with the Orange County District Attorney's Office. This agreement requires him to forfeit his pension credit accumulated during the bribery scheme and immediately resign from his post as county supervisor.

Paul S. Meyer, Andrew Do's attorney, conveyed Do's apology, expressing his deep sadness to his family, constituents, and colleagues.

Rhiannon Do has agreed to cooperate fully with the investigation and will enter a diversion program. She will also forfeit the home in Tustin.

The controversy around Do surged last year over the COVID-19 relief subcontracts awarded to VAS, where his daughter worked. The scandal intensified in August when the county sued VAS, seeking to recover millions of dollars for inadequately accounted services, including meal deliveries to the elderly during the pandemic. A San Diego County Superior Court Judge ordered VAS to set aside nearly $4.2 million in case the county wins its lawsuit.

Peter Pham, the head of VAS, also finds himself under scrutiny. Investigators in August raided the homes of Pham, Rhiannon Do, and other locations connected to the misuse of funds, including Andrew Do's home.

Having been censured and stripped of his committee assignments, Andrew Do was slated to leave the Board of Supervisors due to term limits at the end of the year. Fellow Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento remarked, "This is a day Orange County residents have been waiting for to ensure Supervisor Do is held to account for his misconduct."