Leland Yee Affidavit Reveals a Stunning Array Of Charges

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Leland Yee Affidavit Reveals a Stunning Array Of Charges


The whopping 137-page affidavit detailing the charges against Senator Leland Yee reveals accusations of gun-running, ties to Chinese gangs, cash-for-favors schemes and more.

California Senator Leland Yee, a arrested [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111315-Leland-Yee-Decries-Supreme-Court-Decision] yesterday by the FBI on charges of corruption. That's bad enough on its face, but the details of the charges are nothing short of astounding.

San Francisco Magazine broke down the huge 137-page affidavit into its most salient details, and it turns out that the senator was into some pretty crazy stuff. There's the usual bribe-taking nonsense that people generally assume most politicians are involved with to some extent, but then there's the Russian arms dealer, and the Philippine rebel groups, and his relationship with Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, the Dragonhead of the Chee Kung Tong.

In exchanges with undercover FBI agents, Yee said he could arrange a deal for "shoulder-fired automatic weapons... equivalent to the M16," and that he would handle the arrangements personally. Political consultant Keith Jackson, Yee's fundraiser, told an agent that the senator could hook him up with an arms dealer in New Jersey in exchange for a campaign contribution, and also that Yee had another associate who was supplying "heavy weapons" to rebel groups in the Philippines. The people in question were later identified as actual arms dealers, one of whom sources his weapons from Russia.

The FBI apparently came into contact with Yee through his relationship with a Chinatown gang, presumably the Chee Kung Tong. In early 2013, Yee was introduced to an "undercover employee" of the FBI who wanted a proclamation acknowledging the Tong's 165th anniversary. Yee said he could do it but wanted to keep it on the down-low, expressing concerns that Chow would hold a press conference regarding the proclamation. "What we have to do on our side is be careful," he said. "You know, because, umm, this guy [Chow] told on his friends."

That statement, according to the affidavit, is in reference to a previous prosecution in which Chow cooperated with authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence. Yee later reiterated his concern, saying that he and Jackson shouldn't "get too close" to the Tong and clarifying that the proclamation would be "not to Shrimpboy [Chow}, but to the organization."

"He's still hot stuff," Yee said. "I just talked to some of the, you know, people who, you know, in the families, and, you know, he's still hot stuff. So we just gotta be careful, man." Nonetheless, the deal was made, the proclamation was delivered by a member of Yee's staff and the agent forked over a check for $5000.

Other agents eventually made contact with Yee and Jackson and began offering larger sums of money for more direct access to high-ranking politicians. He was offered up to $15,000 to make a call to another senator regarding pending medical marijuana legislation; when he was later asked why it was taking so long to get the wheels turning, he called it "pay-to-play" and then later offered perhaps the choicest quote in the whole document: "Just give me the goddamn money, man, shit... You should just tell them, write some fucking checks, man."

And thus we come to the inescapable and gloriously ironic conclusion: Senator Leland Yee is a Grand Theft Auto character. Who'da thunk it?

While Yee is innocent until proven guilty, his career as a legislator is likely over, as Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg gave him the option of either resigning or being booted out. "We're going to demand that Leland Yee... leave the Senate and leave it now," Steinberg said. If Yee refuses to go voluntarily, Steinberg said the Senate will suspend him during its next session.

Sources: Los Angeles Times [http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-indictment-against-leland-yee-puts-the-wires-clay-davis-shame]




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CriticalMiss

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Maybe he was hoping that if he was enough of a scumbag then Rockstar would base a GTAV DLC character after him and he could sue them for a slice of their billion dollar pie?
 

rasputin0009

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Against video game violence, but for real world violence. That's quite the platform. This guy was in deep, and it sounds like a whole House of Cards story arc. Nice to know America votes for whoever has the most campaign money, no matter where the money comes from.
 

Atmos Duality

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CriticalMiss said:
Maybe he was hoping that if he was enough of a scumbag then Rockstar would base a GTAV DLC character after him and he could sue them for a slice of their billion dollar pie?
Now, I think Rockstar just got a ton of material for another GTA game.
I'd buy it just for the extraordinary poetic irony.
 

fix-the-spade

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Oh wow, ordinarily I'd assume that a 'corrupt senator' who gets himself deep (or dumb) enough to have the FBI cart him home in cuffs would be quietly convicted and booted to retirement in his mansion, but at this point in time, in this political climate, if Yee gets convicted of buying and import/exporting illegal arms from 'The Russians' he's going to get nailed to the wall.

As they say, live in hope.
CriticalMiss said:
Maybe he was hoping that if he was enough of a scumbag then Rockstar would base a GTAV DLC character after him and he could sue them for a slice of their billion dollar pie?
I can see it now, GTA V: The adventures of Shrimpy and Lee Yo.
 

Remus

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CriticalMiss said:
Maybe he was hoping that if he was enough of a scumbag then Rockstar would base a GTAV DLC character after him and he could sue them for a slice of their billion dollar pie?
Actually Rockstar should sue him for stealing all of their ideas. Heck, so should Warner Bros because this sounds like a plot straight out of a Lethal Weapon movie!
 

Orbot_Vectorman

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May 11, 2009
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Looks like the Devs of "Call of Duty" have some new material to use in their next game. Perhaps now we can have America V.S. America in the next "C.o.D." that would be great!
 

Hairless Mammoth

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rasputin0009 said:
Against video game violence, but for real world violence. That's quite the platform. This guy was in deep, and it sounds like a whole House of Cards story arc. Nice to know America votes for whoever has the most campaign money, no matter where the money comes from.
We don't have much of a choice. Any campaign above town council is pretty much funded either by corruption and bribery like Yee's or playing to the "Moral Guardians" who fart money at any politician that says "think of the kids" with no real care or evidence, also like Yee's situation. There's no one on the ballot that didn't somehow buy their way in, and write ins aren't gonna win a state-wide or national election.
 

Sniper Team 4

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Andy Chalk said:
And thus we come to the inescapable and gloriously ironic conclusion: Senator Leland Yee is a Grand Theft Auto character. Who'da thunk it?
The sheer level of that burn has caused the fire department to be deployed to any place where someone read that out loud.

Quick! Someone mail him a copy of Grand Theft Auto with his face photoshopped--or just taped--on the cover.
 

martyrdrebel27

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haha, so i hate this guy for his videogame stance, but seriously, this guy is awesome from a criminal perspective.

i don't mind his criminal activity, i'm actually a big fan. i just mind his hypocrisy, like the Republican Senators fighting for "family values" while getting involved in all matter of gay and straight sex scandals.

it seems like the rule in Washington is this: "whatever you do that you are ashamed of, loudly protest against it."
 

UNHchabo

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Dec 24, 2008
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In exchanges with undercover FBI agents, Yee said he could arrange a deal for "shoulder-fired automatic weapons... equivalent to the M16," and that he would handle the arrangements personally.
So, given his usual overblown rhetoric on guns, "equivalent to an M16" means he was going to get them a .22 rifle stolen from a summer camp? ;)
 

Johnson McGee

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This is as, if not more, delicious than when that anti-gay Republican senator got caught soliciting gay sex in an airport bathroom.
 

RaikuFA

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Anyone else think this is poetic justice?

Lets hope the escapist covers his trial.
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

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I like this. It's ammo for the right cause. Which is getting the money out of politics. It also set back anti-game legislators 100 years.
 

kajinking

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That's it! Next term I'm voting for Senator De Santa. Now THAT's a guy with strong moral values and a spotless criminal record.



Who wouldn't vote for this guy?!
 

InsanityRequiem

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Nov 9, 2009
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Just so people know, a semi-history lesson of California. Since even long before California was a state, corruption has been a big part of its government. That's over a hundred years of corruption the state of California has had, some of it high and some of it low.

Also, if what the affidavit is true about the weapons Yee's been trafficking, the weapons are military grade weapons. And not just military, but Russian military grade weapons. That's pretty damn bad. Russian arms dealers, through Triad contacts, into the hands of Philippine rebels. Also like Reagan!
 

Arnoxthe1

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Dec 25, 2010
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Ha! Take that, corrupt senator! I wish we caught these guys in their schemes much more often.
 

Karadalis

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This... this is holywood comedy material...

No seriously... to quote Jon Tron "I wish i had the talent to come up with shit like this..."

No wonder he wanted to forbid games like GTA... he felt like they where making a game about HIM! XD