California state senator arrested in FBI sweep
By Dan Levine and Sharon Bernstein 9 hours ago
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By Dan Levine and Sharon Bernstein
- FBI:
California state senator took bribes Associated
Press
- California
lawmaker faces gun, corruption charges Associated
Press
- Excerpts
from FBI California corruption case docs Associated
Press
- FBI:
California State Sen. Leland Yee arrested Associated
Press
- Charlotte,
NC, mayor facing corruption charges Associated
Press
SAN FRANCISCO/SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - A prominent
California lawmaker was arrested on Wednesday in an FBI sweep that netted 26
people, a high-profile case that could affect statewide elections and brings to
three the number of Democratic state senators who face criminal charges this
year.
Senator Leland Yee, a former San Francisco supervisor and one-time
mayoral candidate, was criminally charged in federal court in San Francisco
with two felony counts of conspiring to import and traffic in firearms, and six
corruption counts.
Yee was released
on $500,000 bond and declined to comment on the case.
A criminal complaint posted online by the U.S. Attorney office for
the Northern District of California alleges that Yee did favors for an
undercover FBI agent in exchange for campaign contributions. The complaint
alleges that Yee also offered to facilitate a meeting between the undercover
agent and an arms dealer, and discussed the types of weapons that the
undercover agent might need.
Yee's arrest deals a body blow to California Democrats, whose
two-thirds majority in the state Senate was eroded when Senator Ron Calderon,
indicted on corruption charges, and State Senator Rod Wright, found guilty of
voter fraud, took paid leaves of absence earlier this year.
California state senator Leland Yee (R) appears
in this courtroom sketch speaking with his attorney …
Democrats control large majorities in both houses of the state
legislature and all statewide offices, but having a third senator under a cloud
could seriously undermine the party's ability to push key projects in an
election year.
"If I were
advising the Democrats at this time I would say, 'Pull back everything big
until you get the supermajority back,'" said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a
political analyst at the University of Southern California. "I wouldn't
get into immigration, I would not get into water or anything they would need to
negotiate with the Republicans."
Republican lawmakers, who hardly have had any say in state
government since the Democrats won a so-called super-majority with two-thirds
of the seats in the legislature, had harsh words not only for Yee but for the
Democratic leadership that has refused to oust Wright and Calderon, putting
them instead on paid leaves of absence.
"It's a
shame that some people misuse the privilege to serve the people that has been
entrusted to them," said state senator Andy Vidak, who has led the
Republican charge to oust Wright and Calderon.Democratic senators, for their part, called on Yee to resign. "I want Leland Yee gone," Democratic leader Darrell Steinberg was quoted as saying in several media outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle.
Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow appears in
this courtroom sketch before U.S. Magistrate Judge Na …
MORE ARRESTS
Federal authorities also arrested Raymond "Shrimp Boy"
Chow, alleged to be the head of a Chinese organized crime syndicate, and two
dozen other people, Melinda Haag, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District
of California, said in statement late Wednesday.
A political consultant who worked with Yee, Keith Jackson, was
also arrested and faces numerous charges including firearms trafficking,
involvement in a murder-for-hire case and corruption, according to the
complaint and press release.
Yee, a San
Francisco Democrat, is running for Secretary of State and had been considered a
strong candidate in a big field of both Democrats and Republicans. It is not
yet clear how his arrest will affect that race.In their complaint, prosecutors allege that Yee, trying to raise money to retire debt from his failed 2011 mayoral campaign, did favors for an undercover FBI agent who said he needed a phone call made to the California Department of Public Health in order to be favorably considered for a contract.
California state senator Leland Yee appears in
this courtroom sketch before U.S. Magistrate Judge Na …
The complaint
also alleged that after an undercover agent told Jackson that he needed to
purchase a large number of weapons, Jackson said Yee could facilitate a meeting
with an arms dealer in exchange for a contribution.
"During a meeting with the undercover agent, Yee and Jackson
allegedly discussed details of the specific types of weapons the undercover
agent was interested in buying and importing," the U.S. Attorney's office
said.
Throughout the early part of the day, the hallway outside of Yee's
office at the state capitol in Sacramento was crowded with reporters and other
onlookers hoping for a glimpse of FBI agents working behind a closed door.
Agents began searching Yee's office early Wednesday morning, the FBI said.
Lee, a child psychologist with a PhD., emigrated to San Francisco
from China at the age of 3.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco and Sharon Bernstein in
Sacramento; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Ken Wills) http://news.yahoo.com/california-state-senator-arrested-fbi-sweep-005409780--finance.html
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