Ex-Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do pleads guilty to taking more than $550,000 in bribes

Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do pleaded guilty Thursday to taking more than $550,000 in bribes, in exchange for votes he casted while on the Board of Supervisors that directed more than $10 million in COVID relief funds to a nonprofit where his daughter worked.

Do resigned from his seat on the board as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. He faces up to five years in prison and will be sentenced March 31.

Beginning in 2020, he took bribes to cast votes that funneled millions of dollars in COVID relief money to the Viet America Society, where his daughter Rhiannon worked. After going toward the nonprofit, the money was then directed to an unnamed outside company which made $8,000 payments to Rhiannon Do each month — for a total of $224,000 by February 2024. 

More than $380,000 was transferred by that company to an escrow company, prosecutors said, and the supervisor's daughter used that money to buy a $1 million home in Tustin. In total, Do and his family received more than $700,000 in bribe payments, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said.

"The scheme essentially functioned like Robin Hood in reverse. Mr. Do and his conspirators stole money from the poor to give to themselves," Estrada said at a news conference announcing the public corruption case.

Paul Meyer, Do's attorney, released an apology statement on his behalf following the announcement of the plea deal last week.

"It is appropriate to convey Andrew Do's sincere apology and deep sadness to his family, to his constituents and District 1, and to his colleagues," the statement read.