Prosecutors are revisiting their plea deal with Andrew Do, OC supervisor says

Prosecutors are revisiting their plea deal with former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, a top county official said Tuesday.

The remarks came as supervisors were about to approve a letter asking the federal Department of Justice to revisit the deal and consider a tougher sentence.

Supervisor Don Wagner said prosecutors were already doing that.

“We're asking the DOJ to reassess — review and reassess. We understand from our DA's Office that's being done. And so we're, you know, a little Johnny-come-lately to this,” Wagner said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office — which has been leading the federal prosecution of Do — declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office didn’t return a message for comment.

What the current plea deal says

In October, Do resigned and pleaded guilty to a scheme to steal millions meant to feed needy seniors after an LAist investigation and federal probe. He pleaded to a single count of felony bribery conspiracy, and faces up to five years in prison when he’s sentenced in June.

The deal has generated significant criticism from residents who say the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

Supervisors call for revisiting the deal

The current county supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday — with Wagner opposing — to send a letter asking the Department of Justice to revisit the plea deal and move faster in investigating and prosecuting anyone else involved in Do’s corruption. It came after a contentious debate on the issue two weeks earlier.

The message approved by four supervisors says the deal doesn’t reflect the severity of Do’s corruption, pointing to sentences other public officials have received in corruption cases. And they claim he improperly accessed confidential information about the case after the plea deal was reached, through an email breach that went on for months until he reported it.

[Click here to read what county supervisors approved 4-to-1.]

Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who was elected in November to Do’s vacant seat, introduced the letter her colleagues later modified and approved.

“I want to see justice in this case. Five years in prison is not punishment, Andrew will be out of custody in the blink of an eye,” Nguyen said in a statement.

Asked for comment on the supervisors’ action Tuesday, Do’s attorney, Paul Meyer, said in a statement: “This blatant attempt to assert political influence in a federal matter is reprehensible.”

The email breach

After Do pleaded guilty and resigned in October, he continued to receive confidential emails from the county’s attorney to board members for four months before his attorney alerted officials in February. That’s because Do’s personal email had previously been added to the distribution list for where emails to the board get forwarded.

Supervisor Katrina Foley has said she’s concerned that Do may have seen confidential emails about strategy in the criminal and civil cases about the scheme, while Do’s attorney says the ex-supervisor didn’t notice the emails until February.

The supervisors mentioned that email breach in the resolution they approved Tuesday calling for the plea deal to be revisited.

The plea deal, they wrote, “fails to reflect Do’s misconduct in improperly accessing privileged and confidential communications from County Counsel related to the plea negotiations and subsequent legal matters.”

Wagner’s opposition

Wagner opposed the letter, saying it’s not the supervisors’ place to question how law enforcement and the courts handle the case.

“ This updated resolution continues to be way outside of our lane,” Wagner said at Tuesday’s meeting. “ There are cases out there where much, much less was given to the perpetrators than what Supervisor Do is facing.”

Wagner said Do’s “sentence is somewhat appropriate” when compared to other cases.

He also took issue with his colleagues’ description of the email breach as misconduct.

Do’s personal email was added to the distribution list “in the ordinary course of business for convenience to get information, as far as we know,” Wagner said.

In January 2024, Wagner was the only supervisor who said no one should investigate the millions of tax dollars Do quietly gave his daughter’s group.

By that point, LAist had revealed Do quietly awarded millions in meal dollars to Viet America Society without disclosing his 22 year-old daughter’s leadership role.

LAist also had reported by then that the group had failed to follow requirements to submit audits accounting for what it did with the money.

Months later, federal agents searched Do’s home. And he admitted that much of the funds were diverted from feeding seniors — including to instead be used for a downpayment to buy his daughter a home.