A federal judge sentenced former California state senator Leland Yee on Wednesday to five years in prison after he acknowledged accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and discussing helping an undercover FBI agent buy automatic weapons from the Philippines.
Advertisement
The FBI snagged Yee in the course of a five-year probe into reputed Chinatown crime boss Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, who was convicted of racketeering charges in December after a lengthy trial.
FILE – In this July 31, 2014 file photo, California state Sen. All three eventually left office, costing the Democrats a key two-thirds legislative majority.
During the sentencing, the USA district judge told Yee: “I don’t feel I can be lenient”.
Prosecutors argued in their successful case against Yee that the politician demonstrated a “venal attitude toward his position as an elected public official” who had used and abused his authority for personal gain at the cost of his constituents. Yee has 30 days to surrender and begin his sentence. His sentence includes a three-year supervised…
At least a dozen others, including Yee and Jackson, have pleaded guilty to various charges. Mr. Yee was also fine $20,000.
Still, Breyer’s sentence fell on the low end of guidelines that called for a prison term of between four years and 9 months and six years. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Frentzen called the 49-year-old Jackson “the quintessential bag man”, as he was accused of setting up the meetings between Yee and the agents and helping to solicit the bribes.
Federal agents say one of Chow’s associates was Keith Jackson, a former San Francisco school board president and well-known political consultant who raised money for Yee’s unsuccessful mayoral run in 2011 and his bid for secretary of state.
While serving as State Senator, Yee also attempted to arrange an illegal arms trade through the Philippines in exchange for money.
He was originally charged with additionally participating in the separate organized-crime racketeering conspiracy, selling guns without a license and joining in a never-completed murder-for-hire plan suggested by an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agent.
Advertisement
Yee admitted in a plea deal that he was part of a racketeering conspiracy that involved exchanging official acts for money, conspiring to traffic in weapons and money laundering.
