California anti-gun senator Leland Yee to be sentenced for gun trafficking and racketeering ch

[TheNewYorker]

California anti-gun senator Leland Yee to be sentenced for gun trafficking and racketeering charges

http://www.ktvu.com/news/96074190-story

[TheNewYorker]

Ah yes, Leeland Yee.
The person who railed against people playing Grand Theft Auto, probably because he lived it. He probably thought it was too unrealistic

[Petar]

Wasn't there some weirdo Masonic lodge with a bunch of names blacked-out involved with this?

Wouldn't be the first time...

[puppetmaster]

This guy will get off easy I bet. Effing criminal

[puppetmaster]

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Yee sentenced to 5 years for political corruption
photo
POSTED:FEB 23 2016 10:25PM PST
UPDATED:FEB 24 2016 03:40PM PST
SAN FRANCISCO (AP, BCN) -
Former state Sen. Leland Yee was sentenced by a federal judge in San Francisco today to five years in prison for a political corruption conviction.

Yee's campaign fundraiser, political consultant and former school board president Keith Jackson was also sentenced today to nine years in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.

Yee, 67, and Jackson pleaded guilty before Breyer on July 1 to one count of participating in a racketeering conspiracy to solicit bribes in the form of campaign contributions in exchange for political favors by Yee.

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They admitted that Yee received more than $40,000 in such payments, funneled to him by Jackson, and also admitted to plotting in a never-completed international arms deal in which weapons would be smuggled from the Philippines.

Breyer told Yee he was aware of his history of public service, but said, "I don't feel I can be lenient. The crimes you have committed were essentially an attack on a democratic institution."

Breyer said citizens must have trust that elected officials will act in the public interest and said, "You abused that trust."

Prosecutors had sought an eight-year sentence for Yee while defense attorneys asked for a sentence as low as four years and three months in prison.

Yee told Breyer, "I have taken full responsibility for my actions. I have accepted and understand the crimes I have committed."

Yee, a Democrat, formerly represented the western half of San Francisco and most of San Mateo County in the state Senate.

Yee and Jackson were arrested in March 2014 and have been free on bail since then.

They were among 29 people charged in a broad indictment that included both the political corruption charges against Yee and Jackson and organized-crime charges against Chinatown association leader Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, Jackson and others.

Breyer sentenced Jackson after pronouncing Yee's sentence. He told Jackson his activities were "akin to being a one-man crime wave."

"You were willing to do anything so long as there was some compensation and it didn't matter as to the nature of what it was," the judge said.

Jackson, who served as president of the San Francisco Unified School District board in 1997, 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 FBI agent.

Those charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Breyer said it was especially disturbing and "close to being unforgivable" that Jackson drew his son, Brandon Jackson, into criminal activities.

Brandon Jackson and sports agent Marlon Sullivan pleaded guilty on July 1 to participating in the organized-crime racketeering conspiracy.

They admitted to engaging in sales of guns and cocaine with undercover agents and to participating in the murder-for-hire plot. They are scheduled to be sentenced by Breyer later today.

[Son_of_Liberty90]

Hypocrisy, thy name is politician!

[Danke]

Seems pretty light weight compare to all the other large scale corruption in government. And fairly minor compared to Clintons.

[puppetmaster]

Seems pretty light weight compare to all the other large scale corruption in government. And fairly minor compared to Clintons.

this guy was going to import shoulder fired rocket launchers....not petty

[oyarde]

Classic Caly Dem ol' Yee is , people who read this board will line up to vote for the next one. It is California .

[oyarde]

If I remember correctly ( I was young then) , about April of 1900 the Pubs in KY conspired and killed the dem Gov Goebel . Most arrested were acquitted by the all Dem judges and all Dem juries and one fled to safety in Indiana , another later pardoned by another dem Gov. Otherwise , LOL , I suspect taxes in those states would rival Illinois & California today . Gov Goebel was defeated by about 2400 votes before he was killed , enough Pub ballots were invalidated to ensure his victory , LOL

[Danke]

Democrat Scandal: California Gun Control Senator Yee Heads to Prison: Gun Trafficking
BY SCOTT OSBORN ON FEBRUARY 27, 2018


California Democrats are speechless as they watch their prized Sacramento gun control senator, Leland Yee, head to prison for weapons trafficking, accepting bribes, and extorting money.
“The crimes that you committed have resulted in essentially an attack on democratic institutions,” Breyer told Yee, who nodded as the judge addressed him. “This is a serious, serious injury to a governmental institution.”


Breyer called his involvement in that crime “hypocritical” and “unfathomable” given his past advocacy for gun control.


The judge gave him 30 days to surrender to the U.S. Marshal’s Service, which will turn him over to the federal prison system. Yee’s lawyer asked the judge to recommend the sentence be served at the federal prison in Taft in Kern County.


The 67-year-old Yee had risen steadily in the ranks of Bay Area politics since the late 80s. His career began when he was elected to the San Francisco School Board.


Prior to becoming a state senator, Yee was also a California State Assemblyman. Yee was Supervisor of San Francisco’s Sunset District and was a member and President of the San Francisco School Board. In 2004 Yee became the first Asian American to be appointed Speaker pro Tempore. He was the second highest ranking Democrat of the California State Assembly.




Yee was arrested by the FBI on March 26, 2014 on charges related to public corruption and gun trafficking. Specifically buying automatic firearms and shoulder-launched missiles from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. MILF is an Islamist extremist group located in the southern Philippines.


Yee attempted to re-sell those weapons to an undercover FBI agent. He went further to accept a $10,000 bribe from an undercover agent. This in exchange for placing a call to the California Department of Public Health regarding a contract at the organization.


Former California State Senator Leland Yee admitted this week that he accepted bribes and extorted money.
He acknowledged accepting $11,000 in exchange for setting up a meeting with another state senator, $10,000 for recommending someone for a grant, and $6,800 for providing a certificate on California state senate letterhead honoring the Ghee Kung Tong.


Overall, government officials identified more than $100,000 in bribes directed at Yee during the investigation.


He also acknowledged that he discussed helping an undercover FBI agent buy automatic weapons from the Philippines. They were intended to be brought to the US for distribution.


In a lengthy sentencing memo, prosecutors outlined what they saw as a pattern of bad behavior by Lee that went far beyond the charges he pleaded guilty to.


His dishonesty in the early stages of the investigation, they wrote, “demonstrate a venal attitude toward his position as an elected public official and a willingness to abuse his position of trust in any number of ways. They also reveal a disconnect between the face that Yee puts out to the public and his true nature and character. They necessarily cast a shadow over his career as a public servant and legislation he has sponsored.”


Federal prosecutors pushed for an eight-year sentence for Yee in his political corruption case, describing him in court papers as a public servant who “was willing to betray the trust of those who elected him” and “to sell his vote to the highest bidder.”


“Senator Yee abused that trust in the worst possible way,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Badger told the judge Wednesday, urging punishment above federal sentencing guidelines. “It was to retain power as a public official.”


The FBI snagged Yee in the course of a five-year probe into reputed Chinatown crime boss Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow.


Chow was convicted of racketeering charges in December and after a lengthy trial is awaiting sentencing.


Yee was a vocal advocate for gun control, both before and while engaged in gun running.


In 2006 Yee was named to the Gun Violence Prevention Honor Roll by the Brady Campaign. It was for his efforts that included co-authoring a first-in-the-nation bill to require new semiautomatic handguns be equipped with ballistics identification technology known as micro-stamping.


In May 2012, together with Kevin de León, Yee proposed legislation to ban any semi-automatic rifle that used a bullet button that makes the rifle a “fixed magazine rifle.” SB 249 would ban conversion kits and rifles.


Yee is quoted as saying, “It is extremely important that individuals in the state of California do not own assault weapons. I mean that is just so crystal clear, there is no debate, no discussion.”

[Swordsmyth]

I wonder why he wanted gun control?

[Swordsmyth]

I wonder why this isn't mentioned in relation to current gun control efforts?

[timosman]

I wonder why he wanted gun control?

Pandering?

[Swordsmyth]

Pandering?

Nothing boosts profits like prohibition.