Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do appeared in federal court Monday to face one count of conspiring to steal millions of dollars intended to feed needy seniors, at the continuation of a months-long LAist investigation that resulted in a federal investigation.

As a formality, Do pleaded not guilty Monday, but is expected to change his plea to guilty on Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery as part of the deal reached with prosecutors.

In this plea deal announced last week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Do admitted to accepting more than $550,000 in bribes for directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID funds to a charity affiliated with his daughter Rhiannon Do.

During his arraignment, Do was prohibited from leaving the country, moving, selling or transferring assets worth more than $10,000 without court permission.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also announced last week that Rhiannon Do would be placed on probation for three years in a pretrial diversion program after she admitted to filing a falsified mortgage application that concealed her use of taxpayer money to buy a house in Tustin.

Paul S. Meyer, Andrew Do’s attorney, told LAist in a written statement that “in order to respect legal process, we will not be releasing a statement at this time.”

Catch up on the investigation

In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions of public taxpayer dollars were being spent. In total, LAist uncovered public records showing more than $13 million in public money that was approved for a little-known nonprofit that records show was run on and off by Rhiannon Do. Most of this money was paid to the group by Supervisor Do without public knowledge and never appeared on the public meeting agenda. He has not publicly revealed his family ties.

Much of the known funding came from federal coronavirus relief money.

• Read the story that launched the investigation: Top OC Official Helped Direct Millions of Dollars to Daughter’s Center Without Revealing Family Ties
• Since LAist began reporting, we also discovered that the group was two years late performing a required audit to determine whether meal funds were spent appropriately.
• And LAist found that the amount of taxpayer money going to the nonprofit was much larger than initially thought. It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding – calculated from government documents obtained and published by LAist.
• After our report, those responsible for OC wrote letters of demand to the non-profit association claiming millions of dollars in funding was missing. They warned the nonprofit that it could be forced to repay the funds.
• And LAist founded the non-profit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide evidence of how meal funds were spent.
• On August 2, LAist reported OC officials were demanding repayment of more than $3 million in public funds awarded by Do to VAS and another nonprofit, Hand to Hand.
• Six days later, LAist reported that Orange County officials had extended reimbursement requests millions of dollars in taxes from nonprofits and threatened legal action.
• On August 15, LAist reported OC officials sued VAS and its key executives and associated companies, including Rhiannon Do.. The lawsuit alleges that county money was illegally used to purchase five homes and was converted to cash via ATM transactions.
• Then, on August 19, LAist reported that OC officials had announced a second trial against Hand to hand and its CEO to recover millions of taxpayer dollars led by Supervisor Do.
• LAiste announced the news on August 22 that federal agents were searching Rhiannon Do’s home in Tustin. Later that day, Supervisor Do’s home and other properties were also searched.
• On October 16, LAist reported that the wife of Supervisor Do’s top aide had been hired on a $275,000 contract. County officials say work was never turned in and two days later, LAist reported that a court filing a federal grand jury upheld had been summoned and subpoenas had been issued.
• Six days later, federal prosecutors announced that Andrew Do had agreed to plead guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. They said Do accepted more than $550,000 in bribes for directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID funds at the VAS. He resigned as supervisor the same day.