A California state senator has been arrested for promising shoulder-fired automatic weapons and missiles from a Muslim separatist group to an undercover FBI agent in exchange for campaign donations, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.
In San Francisco, FBI agents have charged California State Sen. Leland Yee with conspiracy to deal firearms and wire fraud. The allegations were outlined in an FBI affidavit against Yee and 25 others. The allegations against Yee include a number of favors he requested in exchange for campaign donations, as well as performing “official acts” in exchange for donations to get himself out of a $70,000 debt incurred during a failed San Francisco mayoral bid, according to court documents.
Yee discussed helping the undercover FBI agent get weapons worth $500,000 to $2.5 million, including shoulder-fired automatic weapons and missiles, and showed the agent the entire process of how to get those weapons from a Muslim separatist group in the Philippines into the United States, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Emmanuel V. Pascua.
Pascua also said in the affidavit that Yee was unhappy with his life and desired to flee to the Philippines. The promised introduction with the weapon trafficker did take place at a San Francisco restaurant earlier this month, according to the documents.
Yee is also accused of accepting $10,000 from an undercover agent in January 2013 in exchange for making a call to the California Department of Public Health in support of a contract under consideration at the agency.
Among the others named in the probe include Raymond (Shrimp Boy) Chow, the former leader of a Chinese criminal organization with ties to Hong Kong. Chow is charged with money laundering, conspiracy to receive and transport stolen property and conspiracy to traffic contraband cigarettes.
Yee, who represents California’s 8th Senate District as a Democrat covering half of San Francisco, was arrested with Chow earlier in the day during a series of raids by the FBI in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Yee, 65, is best known for his efforts to strengthen open records, government transparency and whistleblower protection laws. He has served as State Senator since 2006.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in San Francisco later Wednesday.
Separately in Charlotte, Mayor Patrick Cannon was taken into custody on charges he accepted more than $48,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen. He has since resigned from his position, submitting his resignation letter on the city’s website.
The 47-year-old Democrat has been on the job less than six months. He was elected in November, replacing Anthony Foxx, who was named federal Transportation Secretary by President Barack Obama.
If convicted of all charges, Cannon faces 20 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines.
With News Wire Services
