by Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Anti-gun California State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), who now stands accused of corruption and other crimes including gun trafficking, was once honored by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence for his work on gun control.
That happened in August 2006 when Yee was serving in the California Assembly as Speaker Pro Tem. He was named to the Brady Campaign’s “Gun Violence Prevention Honor Roll” at the National Conference of State Legislators.
Now, Yee, along with two dozen other men, faces a variety of federal charges following his high-profile arrest by federal agents in San Francisco on the morning of March 26. Charges against Yee, who was a candidate for California Secretary of State, include wire fraud and gun trafficking. He has entered a not guilty plea.
California State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), charged with corruption and other crimes including gun trafficking, was once honored by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence for his work on gun control.
According to the federal complaint, Yee is known as “Uncle Leland.” His term as a state senator concludes on Dec. 16, so he was seeking higher office to remain on the public payroll, as California’s next Secretary of State. His arrest essentially derails that campaign.
California Senate President Darrell Steinberg has asked for Yee’s resignation.
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, called the federal complaint naming Yee and others “staggering” and said that if the charges are proven in court, Yee would be revealed as “easily the biggest hypocrite on gun control to walk the halls of the capitol in Sacramento, if not the entire United States.”
He also noted to TGM that if Yee winds up in prison, “he won’t be all alone in a cell; he’ll have that Brady Campaign award on his wall.”
The 137-page complaint contains allegations of gun and drug trafficking, liquor smuggling, money laundering, bribery and other crimes including a conspiracy to commit murder for hire involving Yee’s political advisor Keith Jackson, former president of the San Francisco School Board, and Jackson’s son, Brandon. Both of them are named in the federal complaint.
The affidavit portrays Yee as a very cautious career politician. The government alleges that Yee “wanted to build in several layers of protection to shield (another suspect) and anyone else who may be involved with the weapons deal.”
Yee subsequently discussed, with associates and an undercover FBI agent “how they would break up a large sum of cash provided by (the undercover agent) into legitimate campaign donations,” according to the affidavit.
Of particular irony, the allegations include documented illegal firearms transactions between the Jacksons and an undercover FBI agent, all of which occurred in California and none of which involved a background check despite the state’s so-called “universal background check” requirement.
Among the illegal transactions documented in the complaint were purchases on June 24 and 25 of last year involving nine firearms, two more transactions on Aug. 5 and 8 totaling seven guns, another sale on Aug 26 for a Tec 9 pistol, and a Sept. 13 transaction for an AK-47 rifle. None of these transactions directly involved Yee, but allegedly involved the Jacksons.
Yee’s direct involvement, according to the complaint, came in negotiations with an undercover federal agent who claimed he would spend $2 million for an “initial” weapons purchase involving covert importation from sources in the Philippines. The complaint alleges that Sen. Yee “thought $2 million was a lot of money and said ‘We can’t catch attention to any of this stuff ’.”
Another man named in the complaint was supposed to be the source for the firearms, Dr. Wilson Lim, who also had, according to the complaint, “no known criminal record.”
The arrests came at the end of an investigation that stretches back more than four years and involves a well-known San Francisco crime figure, Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, described by the San Jose Mercury Newsas a “notorious Chinatown gangster.” The FBI affidavit says Yee knows Chow, but says the senator did not trust Chow “because uhm, this guy (Chow) told on his friends.”
That comment alluded to Chow’s publicized cooperation with federal authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence on an earlier charge that sent him to prison some years ago. The complaint notes that “Chow currently wears an ankle bracelet and is under the supervision of an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) deportation officer.” The document also says Chow is currently awaiting resolution of an application to obtain an “Svisa…which is a type of visa issued to witnesses in criminal proceedings.”
Chow has a lengthy criminal history that includes state felony convictions, armed robbery and assault, and federal convictions for racketeering “involving murder for hire, conspiracy to distribute heroin, arson, and conspiracy to collect extensions of credit.”
It was also interesting to watch how California news media presented the situation. The Mercury News initially headlined the story stating that Yee had been “indicted” and stuck with that term throughout. Other news organizations quickly used softer terms, stating that Yee had been “detained” by authorities, and then “arrested.”
Yee was released on $500,000 bail.
