Oakland police have announced the arrest of a person in reference to the recent killing of Tan DaGod, an aspiring rapper who was killed shortly after acting at the opening of a North Oakland cosmetics store.

Dominic Gates, 30, was arrested last week on suspicion of murder in reference to the fatal shooting of Alliauna Green, an aspiring rapper who gained hundreds of followers under the name Tan DaGod. At the time of her killing, Gates was at large although he was facing a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. He had been convicted of pimping a young girl. The charges were filed after police identified him as a suspect in a wild 2022 shooting that killed a person and a lady.

Green's death rocked the Bay Area rap scene, with well-known Oakland rapper and philanthropist Mistah FAB Artist taking to Instagram to praise her “ambition, drive and courage” and her heart that was “as big as TEXAS!!!!”

The July 13 shooting occurred around 5 p.m. after Green filmed a music video and performed on the grand opening of Glamour Beauty Supply on the corner of fortieth Street and Telegraph Avenue, celebrating the reopening of a store that closed earlier this yr after a long time of various ownership.

More than an hour after the event ended, gunfire erupted while dozens of individuals were within the parking zone. Police said Green got right into a verbal argument with some people and was shot. A friend took her to the hospital, where she later died. Another woman was injured within the shooting, but authorities weren’t immediately sure if it was a ricochet bullet or broken glass.

According to court documents, police later identified Gates as a suspect after combing through high-definition surveillance footage. He didn’t speak to investigators, and a motive for the shooting stays unclear.

At the time of the murder, Gates was already a suspect in a June 2023 shooting that left two people dead at an East Oakland gas station, but he was never charged with killing either person, based on court records.

Police identified Gates and a second person, Sir Cameron Young, as two men who drove to the gas station with 25-year-old Anteasa Collins of Stockton. In one other automobile drove up 23-year-old Idriek Patterson of Newark and 30-year-old Damarea Jones. The two groups exchanged words and started shooting at one another, after which Collins and Patterson were fatally struck by bullets, police alleged in court documents.

Jones and Young were later charged with possession of weapons utilized in the shootings, and Gates was charged with failing to register as a sex offender because he had previously been convicted of pimping a lady 16 years old or younger. In August 2023, he was denied bail despite objections from prosecutors – it was his second release from prison while facing charges within the case. His first release ended after only about two weeks when he missed a court date.

Gates reportedly denied involvement within the shooting, telling police he injured his leg and was unable to maneuver just like the person seen on surveillance footage, who investigators imagine is Gates. Police say they identified each Gates and Young since the two posted music videos together on social media.

In an impassioned letter to the court, Gates' sister pleaded with the judge in his case to avoid imposing a lengthy prison sentence, citing his “profound transformation” consequently of fatherhood and his goal of becoming a paramedic.”

“His recent fatherhood has fundamentally modified his outlook on life,” wrote Jazzy Gates, adding that the experience has given him “a brand new sense of purpose.”

“I respectfully request that you think about alternative sentencing options that might provide Dominic with redemption,” she added. “He truly wants a probability at life.”

Originally published: July 23, 2024 at 18:30

OAKLAND — A member of the family that runs the Oakland recycling operation and whose home was recently raided by the FBI was also involved within the operations of a former coffee shop and karaoke lounge that the state agency linked to alleged drug dealing, pimping and human trafficking, records show.

Andy Duong, whose family runs the recycling company California Waste Solutions, “posed as the owner” of the Music Cafe, a downtown restaurant and karaoke lounge, records show. The business, which closed in February 2019, was linked to “straw donors” that Duong allegedly used to hide donations to Oakland and South Bay candidates.

His Oakland Hills home was searched by federal authorities on June 20, together with the homes of his father, David Duong, and Mayor Sheng Thao, in addition to the offices of California Waste Solutions.

Andy Duong was never arrested or charged with a criminal offense in reference to the Liquor Control Board's 2018 investigation of the Music Cafe in Oakland's Chinatown. The investigation into the cafe resulted in three arrests and two convictions for conspiracy and aiding and abetting.

A spokesman for the Duong family didn’t reply to specific questions on Andy Duong's alleged ties to the ninth Street Café, but in a general statement described the family as “good citizens who always obey the law.”

“We believe we have not been involved in or committed any illegal activities and are awaiting the decision of law enforcement,” the statement said.

A person allegedly a “straw man donor” on behalf of the Duong family was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking following a raid on the cafe.

Charlie Ngo, 35, the alleged “straw man donor,” was among the many individuals who either managed, owned or were related to the cafe and donated around $18,000 between 2016 and 2018, mostly to candidates for Oakland City Council. They all allegedly donated money within the name of Andy Duong, who was accused of getting “cash in a drawer in his CWS office” that he donated to a person tasked with soliciting straw man donors, Fair Political Practices Commission documents say. An investigation is ongoing.

Since 2019, Andy and David Duong have been under investigation by the town's Ethics Commission for allegedly evading campaign finance limits through the use of various individuals and firms to funnel money to candidates.

In a motion for a declaration of reasonable suspicion in reference to the sham donor investigation, Angela J. Brereton, director of the FPPC's enforcement office, wrote that Andy Duong “is associated with several businesses, including … the former Sancha Bar/Music Cafe.”

Investigators with the Oakland Public Ethics Commission wrote in a separate document that they “are in possession of private messages in which Andy Duong identifies himself as the owner of the Music Café, also known as Sancha Bar.”

Brereton wrote that state Rep. Ash Kalra told investigators that “Duong spoke about his business, Sancha Bar/Music Cafe. Kalra stated he knew Duong owned that business.”

Kalra provided investigators with several text messages he received from Duong, including one from October 2017 about Duong's karaoke club, “in which Duong asks Kalra to let him know when he wants to come over so he can set it up 'really well for you.' Duong also sent a photo of the karaoke room. According to Kalra, he had lunch with Duong years ago but did not discuss campaign contributions.”

“These interviews demonstrate how much access Duong had to the candidates, how he hosted fundraisers even though he made no campaign contributions himself, and how much Duong knew about his failure to make contributions when CWS was bidding for a contract. In addition, Duong had the opportunity to promote another company, Sancha Bar,” court documents say.

In an announcement sent Friday, Kalra's office said FPPC records show that Kalra “fully cooperated with the FPPC in its investigation of California Waste Solutions and Andy Duong in 2020.”

“Other than a few text messages and a single lunch six years ago, as noted in the filing, the Assembly member had no relationship with Mr. Duong and has not returned to his premises or had any contact with him since,” wrote Zena Hallak, Kalra's communications director.

According to a 208-page State Liquor Control investigation file obtained by this news organization, 4 undercover agents made several late-night visits to the cafe in 2018. Inside, they said, they managed to steal ketamine and ecstasy from employees.

About 20 female “companions” were brought into the undercover officers' karaoke room for selection, police records show. The investigators said they paid each of their companions $100 to return along.

The women went from room to room and were capable of get drugs from the agents, the police file said. After obtaining a search warrant, agents searched the constructing on Oct. 4, 2018, and seized greater than $1,000 in money and medicines they found on the premises, police said.

Andy Duong just isn’t named within the ABC investigation. The cafe was closed 4 months after the raid.

Three people were arrested and charged with crimes related to the investigation in October 2018. Alleged straw donor Ngo was ultimately charged with only two serious crimes: possession on the market and sale of ketamine., Charges that were later dropped.

There isn’t any suspicion that the opposite two co-defendants were used as straw man donors.

A defendant originally charged with 11 counts, including human trafficking, sale and possession of narcotics, and pimping and procuring, was pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit a criminal offense.

The other perpetrator accepted a deal in June 2022 through which he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting after the actual fact. In return, prosecutors dropped three charges of possession of ketamine on the market.

According to the FPPC's filing, Ngo didn’t have the funds for in his checking account to make the contributions he made. For example, he donated $700 to Friends of Desley Brooks despite having only $49.58 in his checking account; $700 to re-elect Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid in 2016 despite having only $2.14; and donated $800 again to Brooks, the previous Oakland City Councilwoman, in 2018 despite having $5.32.

Each time, “he made a large deposit shortly before or after writing his check,” city investigators said in court documents. He can also be listed in campaign documents as a donor who gave $700 to Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan in 2016, $700 to Oakland City Council candidate Viola Gonzales, $600 to San Jose City Councilor Tam Nguyen and $250 to Milpitas City Councilor Anthony Phan's campaign in 2016.

According to records, Mayor Thao, then a city councilor, received a complete of $2,400 from people related to the cafe.

One of the cafe owners admitted to donating $5,000 to then-Oakland City Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney's legal aid fund and $800 to then-Oakland City Councilman Abel Guillen. These elected officials weren’t charged with violating campaign finance laws.

The criminal defense attorney representing Ngo said he “welcomes all efforts to hold Oakland officers accountable for their actions.”

“It is critical, however, that the public recognize that these investigations may be politically motivated and disproportionately target people of color,” said attorney Curtis Briggs, who also represented Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow in a wide-ranging public corruption case in San Francisco.

But even after the “straw donor” allegations, Ngo, who now lives in Sacramento, was not finished sending campaign contributions.

On October 19, 2022, he sent a $500 donation to the campaign of Terry Wiley, who was then just weeks away from Election Day and was making an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the office of Alameda County District Attorney. The money was transferred the identical day that the District Attorney's Office decided to drop the case “in the interest of justice.”

Wiley said he was on voluntary leave from the district attorney's office on the time to run his campaign and was not involved within the case. He didn’t know Ngo and denied knowing in regards to the donation. Wiley, who’s now set to grow to be an Alameda County judge after running unopposed in March, just isn’t suspected of any wrongdoing.

“How am I supposed to know who is who? Hundreds, thousands of people are donating to my campaign,” he said in a recent interview. “I ran a clean campaign. I want to get to the bottom of this.”

By Bay City News

A San Jose man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for forcing his partner into sex trafficking, Monterey County prosecutors said.

Courtney Trendon Davenport, 43, was convicted of human trafficking of adults for industrial sex purposes, a felony, and domestic violence. This is his first conviction for human trafficking, the Monterey County district attorney said in an announcement Thursday.

On February 2, 2023, at roughly 8:10 p.m., Salinas Police received a 911 call from a girl. Upon arrival, officers found the girl calling from a restaurant on Kern Street. According to police, she said her “boyfriend” Davenport had injured her after she refused to depart her motel room and engaged in industrial sex work for his financial gain.

Davenport elbowed the victim in the attention, causing her to walk away and call 911.

Police said the victim was still speaking with officers when Davenport got here out of a neighboring restaurant and commenced yelling. He was arrested shortly afterward and was found to be carrying a knife.

According to the prosecution, Davenport forced his partner to perform sexual acts for financial reasons. Among other things, he forced the victim to follow strict rules. “Her freedom of movement was controlled through surveillance, her ability to financially cover her daily needs was controlled, she was threatened with violence and she was actually violently attacked if she refused.”

“Davenport controlled what sexual acts Jane Doe was allowed to perform, who she was allowed to perform them for, how much she had to charge for them, and how much she had to earn daily before she was allowed to return to her motel room,” prosecutors said.

Anyone with information that somebody has been forced into industrial sex work or another style of labor is asked to call 911 or contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

EL SOBRANTE – In what should come as no surprise to anyone who has been being attentive, police here raided two massage parlors on Appian Way as a part of a sex trafficking investigation at each locations, authorities said.

One of the locations, within the 4400 block of Appian Way, has been the topic of at the very least 4 different undercover operations since 2018, and every of them resulted in either a “masseuse” offering sexual services to an undercover police officer or a raid on the Police Incriminating evidence was seized. The other location, within the 400 block of Appian Way, was also the topic of a prostitution investigation in 2021, in keeping with police and court records.

This recent investigation had two facets; Police raided each locations back in February after which went to the Hayward home of an individual believed to be involved within the operation of considered one of the brothels. There, police seized greater than $9,000 in money, authorities said.

Both brothels were raided after undercover officers visited each locations and were allegedly recruited by sex employees. In one case, a lady there actually took the undercover officer's hands, placed them on her breasts after which demanded a $60 tip for his massage, authorities said.

In 2022, police seized an assault rifle from the salon within the 4400 block of Appian Way after an identical undercover investigation. In 2021, a masseuse at the identical location offered sexual services to an undercover officer who declined. In 2018, an undercover officer was given a condom and quoted a price for having sex there, authorities said.

The man suspected of running that massage parlor has ties to other suspected brothels within the Bay Area and is under investigation for allegedly promoting prostitution in Texas, authorities said.

In 2021, the salon within the 400 block of Appian Way was also investigated after a person reported that a masseuse performed a sexual act after a massage that he told police he didn’t want, authorities said.