A California state senator known for his outspoken views in
support of gun control was arrested on Wednesday and charged with illegally
trafficking in firearms including rocket launchers alongside multiple counts of public corruption.
In a federal corruption investigation that nabbed 26 people
on charges ranging from drug smuggling to murder-for-hire, Democratic state
Sen. Leland Yee was indicted on conspiracy to traffic in firearms without a
license and to illegally import firearm, and six counts of corruption, which
included handing out favors in exchange for substantial campaign contributions.
If convicted, Yee could face up to 20 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine for each corruption charge, while the gun trafficking count could
result in five years in prison and a similar fine.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, the FBI affidavit
claims Yee offered to negotiate illegal firearms sales on multiple occasions in
exchange for financial donations towards his campaign. He allegedly told an
undercover FBI agent of his connections to firearms dealers in Asia and Russia,
with CBS San Francisco reporting he knew an arms dealer who’d been shipping
“cargo containers” of weapons to Muslim rebels in the Philippines.
The meeting between Yee and the undercover agent was
brokered by Keith Jackson, a political consultant with ties to Raymond Chow,
whom the FBI identified as the ringleader of a Chinatown gang. Chow introduced
an FBI agent who’d made his way into the group to Jackson, who was the first to
tell of Yee’s connections to arms dealers.
"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 to Reuters.
Although the arms deal was never concluded, several meetings
were conducted to discuss the arrangement and the FBI asserts it did give Yee
cash as part of the process.
As noted by CBS, Yee was an outspoken advocate for gun
control, sponsoring legislation that would have closed a loophole in
California’s ban on assault weapons – ultimately vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. In
an interview with the station, Yee said that despite vocal opposition by gun
rights supporters, he felt strongly about limiting access to guns by criminals.
“This is not an easy issue,” Yee told CBS in 2012. “But I am
a father, and I want our communities to be safe, and god forbid if one of these
weapons fell into the wrong hands.”
In addition to the gun trafficking allegation, the LA Times
reports that Yee allegedly accepted a cash donation far beyond the limits of
the law – and paid for by the FBI – in return for setting up a meeting between
a campaign donor and state lawmakers capable of influencing medical marijuana
legislation.
In another instance, Yee pursued a Senate proclamation
praising the Ghee Kung Tong Freemason lodge in San Francisco, also in exchange
for thousands of dollars towards his campaign, and also paid for by the FBI.
Yee was released on a $500,000 bond on Wednesday after
giving up his passport. He is currently running to be the next Secretary of
State, but news of his arrest has triggered calls for his resignation from the
Senate by his colleagues. The Democrats have already been hit with corruption
charges against two other lawmakers.
"Senator Yee should leave the Senate and leave it
now," Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) told the
Mercury News.
