Orange County supervisors approve victim impact statement for federal sentencing in county corruption case

The Orange County Board of Supervisors on April 29, 2025, voted to approve a victim impact statement to be submitted to the federal court in the matter listed on the agenda as United States v. Andrew Huangdo, with the statement to be transmitted to the U.S. Attorney and included in the pre-sentence report prepared ahead of the June 9, 2025, sentencing.

The statement is intended for the sentencing judge and, as County Counsel explained, to “humanize the case” by describing emotional, financial and operational harm to the county; County Counsel said the pre-sentence report must be provided to the defendant 35 days before sentencing, which made the board’s April 29 special meeting the practical deadline for formal approval.

Board members debated two main questions: whether the impact statement should list other federal crimes that, they were told, could no longer be prosecuted because of the plea agreement, and whether to attach the board’s previously adopted resolution and related letter to the U.S. Department of Justice. Supervisor Wynne urged including stronger language and the attachment to show the “outrage” felt by affected residents, while Supervisor Wagner said the victim statement should remain focused on the victims’ experience and warned attaching the resolution risked turning the filing into a political instrument. Wagner said, “I like the statement unadorned because that's a proper role for a victim to express outrage to a federal judge.”

County Counsel (Mr. Page) told supervisors he had been working with Avery Harrison of the District Attorney’s office, who would serve as the local liaison to the U.S. Department of Justice; Page said he expected the document would be transmitted to the U.S. Attorney’s office and then to the U.S. Probation Department for inclusion in the pre-sentence report but that the county had no control over the federal agencies’ handling once submitted.

The board approved the statement as amended (including edits proposed from the dais, added reference to the Vietnam War memorial funding, and reinstatement of a listing of potential federal charges that had appeared in an earlier draft) by a 4–0–1 vote, with one abstention. The record shows the board directed County Counsel to submit the victim impact statement for inclusion in the pre-sentence report and to transmit related exhibits and attachments as discussed.

County Counsel reported that the board’s previously adopted resolution had already been transmitted to federal officials earlier in the week as part of a separate letter to the U.S. Attorney and the Department of Justice. The board’s stated next step is transmission of the victim impact statement for possible inclusion in the pre-sentence report ahead of the June 9 sentencing date.

No action was taken on closed-session items, County Counsel reported at the meeting’s end.