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Thread: CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR ACCUSED OF CONSPIRICY TO DEAL FIREARMS AND WIRE FRAUD

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  1. #11
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Leland Yee withdraws from secretary of state race


    San Jose Mercury News
    - ‎8 minutes ago‎
    By Howard Mintz, Josh Richman and Jessica Calefati. Staff writers. SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after his stunning arrest on corruption charges, State Sen. Leland Yee withdrew from the Secretary of State's race...
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    California State Senator and Chee Kung
    Tong Leader Among 26 Defendants
    Charged in Federal Criminal Complaint



    U.S. Attorney’s OfficeMarch 26, 2014

    • Northern District of California(415) 436-7200




    SAN FRANCISCO—A federal criminal complaint filed on March 24, 2014, was unsealed in San Francisco today charging 26 defendants with firearms trafficking, money laundering, murder-for-hire, drug distribution, trafficking in contraband cigarettes, and honest services fraud, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge José M. Martinez.

    The defendants include Raymond “Shrimpboy” Chow, the current Dragonhead, or leader, of the San Francisco-based Chee Kung Tong organization (CKT), and State Senator Leland Yee, who represents San Mateo County and part of San Francisco County in the California Senate.

    With respect to Chow, according to the complaint, as FBI undercover agents infiltrated the CKT through introductions made by Chow and others, a pattern of alleged racketeering activity was uncovered.
    According to the complaint, as the relationship developed among the primary undercover agent, Chow, and other defendants, the undercover agent informed the defendants that he was interested in generating income from illegal schemes. The undercover agent was inducted into the CKT as a “consultant.” Thereafter, during the course of multiple undercover operations, the undercover agent was allegedly introduced to a number of the defendants in order to launder money, traffic narcotics, traffic in firearms, traffic purportedly stolen cigarettes and liquor, and engage in murder-for-hire schemes.

    Chow also introduced Keith Jackson to the undercover agent. Jackson, the owner and operator of “Jackson Consultancy,” a San Francisco based consulting firm, is a “consultant” to the CKT. Jackson and his son, Brandon Jackson, allegedly responded to a request for weapons by the undercover agent, by indicating that Brandon Jackson and an associate would be able to accommodate his request. Subsequently, Jackson, Brandon Jackson, and Marlon Sullivan sold various types of firearms and two ballistic vests to the undercover agent. Additionally, Jackson, Brandon Jackson, and Sullivan allegedly conspired to commit a purported murder for hire scheme requested by the undercover agent, in addition to other illegal activity, including the sale of stolen credit cards and the purported sale of cocaine to Jackson, Brandon Jackson, and Sullivan from the undercover agent.


    Brandon Jackson introduced the undercover agent to Rinn Roeun, one of Brandon Jackson’s sources of supply for firearms. Roeun sold multiple firearms to the undercover agent and, during a series of conversations, told the undercover agent that he was willing to commit murder for a fee.

    According to the complaint, in addition to his relationship with Chow and the CKT, Keith Jackson is also a close associate of Senator Leland Yee. From at least May 2011 through the present, Jackson has been involved in raising campaign funds for Yee.

    With respect to Yee, the complaint alleges that over the course of 2012 and continuing to the present time,Yee and Keith Jackson allegedly raised money and campaign funds for Yee’s Secretary of State campaign by soliciting donations from FBI undercover agents in exchange for multiple official acts and that Yee and Jackson were involved in a conspiracy to traffic firearms.


    Starting in May 2011, according to the complaint, and continuing for several months, Jackson solicited an undercover agent with the FBI to make contributions to Yee’s San Francisco mayoral campaign. These solicitations allegedly included asking the agent for donations in excess of the $500 individual donation limit. The agent declined to make any donations to Yee but introduced Jackson and Yee to a purported business associate, another undercover FBI agent. Jackson and Yee then solicited the second undercover agent for campaign contributions. This solicitation resulted in at least one personal donation in the amount of $5,000 to Yee’s mayoral campaign.


    After Yee lost the November 8, 2011 election, according to the complaint, he had at least $70,000 in debt from that campaign. In connection with efforts to retire the mayoral campaign debt, according to the complaint, Yee and Jackson allegedly agreed that Yee would make a telephone call to a manager with the California Department of Public Health in support of a contract under consideration with the second undercover agent’s purported client and would provide an official letter of support for the client, in exchange for a $10,000 campaign donation. Yee allegedly made the call on October 18, 2012, and provided the letter on or about January 13, 2013. On November 19, 2012, Jackson accepted the $10,000 cash donation.


    According to the complaint, in a further attempt by Jackson and Yee to gain money from one of the undercover agents, in August 2013, Jackson told the undercover agent that Yee had a contact who deals in arms trafficking. Jackson requested that the undercover agent provide a campaign donation on behalf ofYee, for Yee to facilitate a meeting with the arms dealer with the intent of the undercover agent to purportedly purchase a large number of weapons. 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 defendants are charged as follows:

    LELAND LIN YEE

    • Conspiracy to Traffic in Firearms Without a License, and to Illegally Import Firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 922(a)(1), and (l)
    • Scheme to Defraud Citizens of Honest Services, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 1343, 1346, 2 (six counts)

    KEITH JACKSON

    • Conspiracy to Traffic in Firearms Without a License and to Illegally Import Firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 922(a)(1), and (l)
    • Trafficking in Firearms Without a License, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)
    • Scheme to Defraud Citizens of Honest Services, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 1343, 1346, 2 (six counts)
    • Use of an Interstate Commerce Facility for the Commission of a Murder-for-Hire, in violation of 1958
    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846

    KWOK CHEUNG CHOW, a/k/a RAYMOND CHOW, a/k/a SHRIMPBOY

    • Money Laundering of Funds Believed to be Proceeds of Specified Unlawful Activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3) (three counts)
    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) (two counts)
    • Conspiracy to Receive and Transport Stolen Property in Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2314, and 2315 (two counts)
    • Conspiracy to Traffic and Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2315, 2342(a), and 2344

    GEORGE NIEH

    • Money Laundering of Funds Believed to be Proceeds of Specified Unlawful Activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3) (three counts)
    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) (two counts)
    • Conspiracy to Receive and Transport Stolen Property in Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2314, and 2315 (two counts)
    • Conspiracy to Traffic and Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2315, 2342(a), and 2344
    • Trafficking in Firearms Without a License, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1) (two counts)
    • Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (two counts)
    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § § 841 and 846.

    KEVIN SIU

    • Money Laundering of Funds Believed to be Proceeds of Specified Unlawful Activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3)

    ALAN CHIU

    • Money Laundering of Funds Believed to be Proceeds of Specified Unlawful Activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3)

    KONGPHET CHANTHAVONG

    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § § 841 and 846 (two counts)
    • Possession With Intent to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841
    • Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
    • Trafficking in Firearms Without a License, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1) (three counts)
    • Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)(three counts)

    XIAO CHENG MEI, a/k/a MICHAEL MEI

    • Possession With Intent to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841

    BRANDON JACKSON

    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846
    • Trafficking in Firearms Without a License, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)
    • Use of an Interstate Commerce Facility for the Commission of a Murder-for-Hire, in violation of 1958

    MARLON SULLIVAN

    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846
    • Trafficking in Firearms Without a License, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)
    • Use of an Interstate Commerce Facility for the Commission of a Murder-for-Hire, in violation of 1958

    RINN ROEUN

    • Trafficking in Firearms Without a License, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)
    • Use of an Interstate Commerce Facility for the Commission of a Murder-for-Hire, in violation of 1958

    ANDY LI

    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)
    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846
    • Trafficking in Firearms Without a License, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1) (two counts)
    • Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (two counts)

    LESLIE YUN

    • Money Laundering of Funds Believed to be Proceeds of Specified Unlawful Activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3)
    • Conspiracy to Traffic and Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2315, 2342(a), and 2344

    YAT WAH PAU, a/k/a JAMES PAU

    • Money Laundering of Funds Believed to be Proceeds of Specified Unlawful Activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3)
    • Conspiracy to Traffic and Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2315, 2342(a), and 2344

    JANE MIAO XHEN LIANG, a/k/a JANE LIANG

    • Conspiracy to Receive and Transport Stolen Property in Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2314, and 2315

    TINA YAO GUI LIANG, a/k/a TINA LIANG

    • Conspiracy to Receive and Transport Stolen Property in Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2314, and 2315
    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846

    BRYAN TILTON

    • Conspiracy to Receive and Transport Stolen Property in Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2314, and 2315
    • Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846

    HUAN MING MA

    • Conspiracy to Receive and Transport Stolen Property in Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2315

    HON KEUNG SO

    • Conspiracy to Receive and Transport Stolen Property in Interstate Commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2315

    NORGE MASTRANGELO

    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)

    ALBERT NHINGSAVATH

    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)

    SERGE GEE

    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) (three counts)

    XIU YING LIANG, a/k/a ELAINE LIANG

    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) (three counts)

    GARY KWONG YIU CHEN

    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) (two counts)

    ANTHONY LAI

    • Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1) (two counts)

    WILSON SY LIM

    • Conspiracy to Traffic in Firearms Without a License, and to Illegally Import Firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § § 371, 922(a)(1), and (l)


    In a related case, a complaint filed on March 25, 2014, charging defendant BARRY HOUSE with one count of trafficking in firearms without a license, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1), and one count of felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).


    The maximum penalties for the violations are as follows:

    18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)
    • 20 years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $500,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(3)
    • 20 years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $500,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2314, 2315
    • Five years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § § 371, 2315, 2342(a), 2344
    • Five years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)
    • Five years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)
    • 10 years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 922(a)(1), 922(l)
    • Five years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
    • From five years to life
    • Five years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § 1958
    • 10 years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    18 U.S.C. § § 1343, 1346, 2
    • 20 years in prison
    • Three years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 fine
    • $100 special assessment
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    • From five years to 40 years in prison
    • Four years’ supervised release
    • $5 million fine
    • $100 special assessment
    21 U.S.C. § 841, 846
    • Five years in prison, with five or ten year mandatory minimum in some instances
    • Three to five years’ supervised release
    • $250,000 to $10 million fine
    • $100 special assessment

    The defendants, with the exception of Brandon Jackson, Sullivan, Liang, Nhingsavath, Mastrangelo, Gee, Yun, and Pau, were arrested today and made their initial appearances in federal court in San Francisco in front of United States Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins.


    Yun and Pau were arrested yesterday in New York. Sullivan was arrested this morning in New Jersey and Brandon Jackson was arrested in Connecticut. Liang, Nhingsavath, Mastrangelo, and Gee are fugitives.


    A complaint merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendants are subject to the maximum penalties stated above. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.


    William Frentzen, Susan Badger, and Waqar Hasib are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of a five-year investigation by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations Division, San Francisco Police Department, Oakland Police Department, and Antioch Police Department.







    FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. government, U.S. Department of Justice


    http://www.fbi.gov/sanfrancisco/pres...inal-complaint
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 03-27-2014 at 05:48 PM.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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  4. #14
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    Why did state Sen. Leland Yee escape terrorism charges?

    By Matthias Gafni
    Contra Costa Times
    POSTED: 04/04/2014 04


    Shocking enough are the allegations that a long-perceived unassuming state senator tried brokering an international arms deal with military-style rifles and rocket launchers, but Leland Yee may have narrowly escaped an even more ominous label: supporter of terrorism.

    Yee, whose arrest after an FBI undercover sting shook the California political world last week, would likely have been charged with aiding terrorists if not for a bureaucratic label missing from the militant Filipino group that he is accused of sourcing for an international arms deal, counterterrorism experts told this newspaper.

    His ties to the group, whose leader has said he personally met with Osama Bin Laden, are spelled out in a 137-page affidavit. It accuses Yee and two associates of conspiring with an undercover FBI agent posing as a Mafia gangster to purchase up to $2.5 million in weapons from a source with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines.

    The group is not among the 56 foreign terrorist organizations designated by the U.S. State Department, although its three-decade reign of terror, including bombings, kidnappings and killings of civilians mirror other designated groups.

    Groups identified as terrorist organizations cannot legally receive financial support, services, training or any assistance from U.S. residents, among other restrictions.

    The State Department designates groups every two years based on a combination of factors, including intelligence, input from the U.S. Embassy in the host country and the stated goals of the organizations.

    "If (the Filipino group) were a designated terrorist group (Yee) would be subject to prosecution," said Michael Kraft, former senior adviser for the State Department counterterrorism office and co-author of 1996 legislation creating laws against supporting terrorist groups.
    Yee could have still been charged with material support to an undesignated group if the FBI found Yee intended to help the terrorists or if the money went to a specific act of terrorism, but the sting never went that far.

    A spokeswoman with the law firm of Yee's new attorney, Jim Lassart, said he had no comment.

    The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment Friday. The office announced the indictment Friday of Yee and 28 other defendants arrested following a five-year FBI investigation. The indictment formalizes the allegations the government outlined against Yee in the affidavit.

    Yee was charged with corruption, wire fraud and conspiracy to traffic arms. A terrorism charge would carry a 15-year sentence or life if a death could be linked to the aid. Yee faces a five-year sentence for gun trafficking.

    On March 27 -- the day after Yee's arrest -- the Philippines government signed a peace accord with the leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's largest separatist group.

    The group -- which has reportedly had ties with al-Qaida and two designated terrorist groups in the Philippines -- may have only been kept off the State Department list so as not to disturb those peace talks, said Joseph Felter, a senior research fellow with Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation.
    "In the United States, ever since post-9/11, many folks have wanted to put (the Moro Islamic Liberation Front) as a designated terrorist group," said Felter, who has worked with the Philippines military on security issues.

    Kathi Austin, executive director of the Conflict Awareness Project and an internationally recognized arms trafficking expert, said it's clear to her the feds were chasing possible terrorism charges, continually asking Yee to talk about the Filipino group. And Yee, according to the affidavit, did not disappoint.

    At a March 5 meeting with the undercover agent, Yee explained how Mindanao, a southern island of the Philippines, was largely populated by Muslim rebel groups, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which had many factions. The state senator told the agent Muslims in Mindanao had access to a lot of money and were financed by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi before his death, according to the complaint.

    A week later, the agent asked Yee about the proposed peace treaty and Yee said the Philippines government was secretly funding some of the groups in an effort to distract people from government corruption. Yee said factions within the terrorist group didn't agree with the treaty and that those elements had no problem "kidnapping individuals, killing individuals and extorting them for ransom," according to the complaint.

    Yee reportedly told the agent he took an "agnostic" stance on the weapons deal: "People want to get whatever they want to get. Do I care? No, I don't care. People need certain things," he is quoted as saying.

    The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has been linked to 30 years of brutality, including the Maguindanao massacre in November 2009, when armed men kidnapped and killed 58 people, including a politician, his wife, two sisters, journalists, lawyers and aides.
    On the four-year anniversary, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-USA Chapter held a commemoration in Carson to honor the 32 journalists killed and a Yee aide read a statement on the state senator's behalf: "Let us never forget the ultimate sacrifice that these journalists made for the public good."

    Just a few months later, authorities say Yee brokered a deal with the terrorist group linked to that attack.

    But the Moro Islamic Liberation Front remains off the terror list. And because of that and the evidence in the complaint, "there's really no chance of a terrorism-related charge," said Gregory McNeal, an associate law professor at Pepperdine University School of Law and expert in national security law.

    It's not enough that prosecutors prove Yee knew his support would benefit terrorism; they would need to prove Yee intended for the gun money to further the terrorists' goals, he said.

    "Intent requires him to act with the goal or conscious object to bring about the terrorist end," McNeal wrote in an e-mail. "So to prove that, you would need evidence along the lines of 'I'm really hoping we can buy these weapons so they can use the money to successfully attack the government.'"

    http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_254978...cape-terrorism

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    1. 'Free Shrimp Boy!' Raymond Chow's defense mobilizes

      Sacramento Bee (blog) - 1 day ago
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  7. #17
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    The Fruits of Leland Yee's corruption.

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    JULY 1, 2015

    Former California Sen. Leland Yee pleads guilty to corruption charge

    Faces up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 fine in plea deal
    Senator was part of sweeping federal probe in Bay Area
    Sentencing scheduled Oct. 21

    State Sen. Leland Yee, speaks to members of the press in Sacramento in this Feb. 14, 2013, file photo. | Randall Benton The Sacramento Bee

    BY ALEXEI KOSEFF
    akoseff@sacbee.com

    SAN FRANCISCO Former state Sen. Leland Yee faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after a deal in federal court Wednesday in which he pleaded guilty to one felony count of racketeering.

    Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, will be sentenced on Oct. 21.


    Yee was one of more than two dozen people arrested last year as part of a sweeping federal investigation into a Bay Area organized crime ring run by Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, a longtime associate of Yee’s.


    Originally charged with additional counts related to public corruption and illegal gun trafficking, he was looking at up to 165 years in prison and $2.25 million in penalties.


    The deal is the culmination of a stunning political collapse for Yee, who spent more than a decade in the Legislature and was running for secretary of state when he was arrested in March 2014. Days later, he was suspended from the Senate with pay, and he served the remaining months of his term in exile.


    Yee’s troubles began following an unsuccessful run for San Francisco mayor in 2011, which left him with at least $70,000 in campaign debt, according to an FBI affidavit.


    Through Keith Jackson, a political aide and fundraiser, Yee was introduced to several undercover agents posing as people seeking political favors in exchange for donations to retire his mayoral debt and fund his secretary of state campaign.


    Prosecutors allege that Yee accepted tens of thousands of dollars to help a fake business win a state contract, issue a proclamation for a Chinatown community organization, and influence legislation on medical marijuana, the state athletic commission and workers’ compensation.


    In a particularly damaging revelation for the staunch gun control advocate, Yee was also accused of offering to facilitate a multimillion-dollar arms deal for shoulder-fired missiles and automatic weapons with a source tied to Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines.


    The affidavit describes Yee as well aware of the risks, especially following the corruption indictment of former Sen. Ron Calderon around the same time. As he walked with undercover agents to a Capitol-area meeting he had allegedly arranged for $10,000, Yee is quoted as saying, "I’m just trying to run for secretary of state. I hope I don’t get indicted."


    Alexei Koseff: 916-321-5236, @akoseff

    http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-...e25986487.html
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    Sad, but just another example of our corrupt two party political system. We cannot allow dynasties. we cannot allow politicians to stay for a lifetime to be corrupted by lobbyists or foreign governments. But, for 45 or more years, we have done just that, not once but over and over.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevinssdad View Post
    Sad, but just another example of our corrupt two party political system. We cannot allow dynasties. we cannot allow politicians to stay for a lifetime to be corrupted by lobbyists or foreign governments. But, for 45 or more years, we have done just that, not once but over and over.
    Another example of why we need term-limits!

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

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