Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to sentence former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do to the maximum 60 months in prison for conspiracy to commit bribery related to the alleged embezzlement of millions in COVID-relief funds by a nonprofit that was supposed to provide meals to seniors and others in need.
Calling Do’s crimes “an assault on the very legitimacy of government,” prosecutors in filings made Monday, May 19, said the seriousness of the former supervisor’s crimes requires a substantial sentence to signal that self-dealing and subverting the law for personal gain can not be tolerated in government. Do is set to be sentenced in federal court on June 9.
“The county’s residents trusted their elected representatives to use these funds to fight hunger, maintain safety, and aid those most in need – including the county’s elderly and disabled citizens,” prosecutors wrote. “During this time of hardship, the people needed leadership, compassion, and integrity. Instead, they got Andrew Do.”
In their filing, prosecutors said Do breaking the public’s trust at a time of heightened economic insecurity during the pandemic warrants the statutory maximum sentence of 60 months in prison.
Do’s attorney, Paul Meyer, declined to comment. Do’s attorneys argued in a court filing he should instead get a 33-month sentence, which would be two and a half years.
In a letter to the judge, Do asked that his crimes be balanced with “any good I may have done in my past.”
“I am guilty. I am ashamed, and I fully admit the wrongs that I have done,” Do wrote. “I only ask that you look at the larger picture in evaluating my acts.”
Do agreed in 2024 to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, admitting in his agreement with federal prosecutors that he, beginning in 2020, received more than $550,000 in return for directing millions in COVID-relief funds to Viet America Society, where his daughter was later hired as a condition of the bribery scheme.
As part of that plea deal, Do also agreed to step down from the OC Board of Supervisors. The money he directed to Viet America Society largely came from his First District discretionary fund and was intended to pay for food assistance programs for seniors and people with disabilities.
Of the $9.3 million received by the group, only about 15% was spent on the meals, according to Do’s plea agreement.
Do wrote that he did not see the payments from the nonprofit as a bribe and “now my bad judgment has derailed all that I had sought to achieve before I left public office.”