SAN FRANCISCO — A California state senator who was lauded for his efforts to make government more transparent was arrested Wednesday along with a onetime gang leader known as “Shrimp Boy” during a series of raids by the FBI in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, authorities said.

FBI spokesman Peter Lee confirmed the arrests of State Sen. Leland Yee and Raymond Chow, but declined to discuss the charges, citing an ongoing investigation. Yee was scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in San Francisco later Wednesday.

The agency was executing numerous arrests and search warrants in the Bay Area, FBI Special Agent Michael Gimbel said outside the offices of Ghee Kung Tong, a fraternal organization in San Francisco’s Chinatown that Chow reportedly headed. It was among the sites searched. Firefighters were seen going inside with a circular saw and later said they had cracked a safe.

Yee is the third Democratic senator to face charges this year. Sen. Rod Wright was convicted of perjury and voter fraud for lying about his legal residence in Los Angeles County, and Sen. Ron Calderon has been indicted on federal corruption charges. Wright and Calderon are taking a voluntary leave of absence, with pay, although Republicans have called for them to be suspended or expelled from the Legislature.

Mark Hedlund, spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, confirmed that the FBI searched Yee’s office in the state capitol on Wednesday, but he said he had no information about the arrest.

“We’re hoping for more as we go through the day,” he said.

Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said he had no comment and did not know anything about the investigation.

Officers from the California Highway Patrol and Senate sergeant-at-arms details were standing guard outside Yee’s office, where a morning newspaper remained untouched.

Yee, 65, represents western San Francisco and much of San Mateo County. A spokesman for the senator, Dan Lieberman, said he had no comment, but the senator’s office would release a statement in the afternoon.

He is best known publicly for his efforts to strengthen open records, government transparency and whistleblower protection laws, including legislation to close a loophole in state public records laws after the CSU Stanislaus Foundation refused to release its $75,000 speaking contract with former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in 2010.


Chow ran a Chinese criminal organization with ties to Hong Kong and was convicted of gun charges. But he had recently been held up as an example of successful rehabilitation and was praised for his work in the community.

Yee’s arrest came as a shock to Chinese-Americans who see the senator as a pioneering leader in the community and a mainstay of San Francisco politics, said David Lee, director of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee.

“People are waiting to see what happens, and they are hoping for the best, that the charges turn out not to be true,” said Lee, whose organization just held a get-out-the-vote event with Yee and other Chinese-American elected officials last week.

For his efforts to uphold the California Public Records Act, Yee was honored last week by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which awarded him its public official citation for his efforts last year to maintain the requirements of the California Public Records Act.

Yee has at times clashed with fellow Democrats for casting votes of conscience, refusing to support the Democratic budget proposal in 2011 because of its deep cuts to education, social services and education. He also opposed legislation by a fellow Democrat, Assemblyman Paul Fong of Cupertino, that banned the sale of shark fins used for Chinese shark fin soup, saying that it unfairly targeted the Chinese-American community.

Yee is among three Democrats running this year for secretary of state, the office that oversees elections and campaign finance reporting. He lost a bid for mayor of San Francisco in 2011.

A man was charged last year for threatening Yee over legislation that he proposed to limit rapid reloading of assault weapons.

Chow acknowledged in an unpublished autobiography that he ran prostitution rings in the 1980s, smuggled drugs and extorted thousands from business owners as a Chinatown gang member, KGO-TV reported two years ago.

In 1992, Chow was among more than two-dozen people indicted on racketeering charges for their alleged involvement in crimes ranging from teenage prostitution to an international drug trade mostly involving heroin.

He was later convicted of gun charges and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He spent 11 years in prison and was released in 2003 after he cut a deal with the government to testify against another high-ranking associate, Peter Chong. Chong was later convicted of racketeering.

But Chow told KGO-TV in a 2012 interview that he had changed and was working with at-risk children in San Francisco.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California issued a statement in 2012 recognizing Chow as a former offender who had become an asset to his community, the Sacramento Bee reported. Chow was also praised by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee for his “willingness to give back to the community,” the Bee reported.

 Ahtman wrote:
I don't know him as someone worried about transparency as much as a guy who kept trying to pass anti-video game legislation.

(CNN) -- FBI agents on Wednesday arrested the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, for allegedly taking tens of thousands of dollars worth of bribes "in exchange for the use of his official position," the U.S. attorney's office said.

Patrick D. Cannon, 47, faces federal charges of theft and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, honest services wire fraud and extortion under color of official right, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins of western North Carolina.

The Charlotte mayor's office declined a CNN request for comment. However, CNN obtained a copy of Cannon's resignation letter, sent to City of Charlotte Manager Ron Carlee and City Attorney Bob Hagemann.

"I hereby give notice of my resignation from the position of the Mayor of the City of Charlotte, effective immediately. In light of the charges that have been brought against me, it is my judgment that the pendency of these charges will create too much of a distraction for the business of the City to go forward smoothly and without interruption," Cannon wrote in the letter.

"I regret that I have to take this action, but I believe that it is in the best interest of the City for me to do so."

First elected to City Council in 1993 -- when he was 26 and two years removed from graduating from North Carolina A&T State University -- Cannon served through 2005, including the last four years as mayor pro tem.

Cannon, the president of a private parking business, spent four years out of office until being elected to City Council again in 2009. Between 2010 and 2013, he served as both a council member and mayor pro tem until his election as mayor in November 2013.

Federal authorities launched their corruption investigation in August 2010, using FBI agents who posed as commercial real estate developers and investors looking to do business in the North Carolina city, Tompkins' office said.

Investigators documented five separate occasions between January 2013 and February 2014 in which Cannon allegedly took more than $48,000 in cash, airline tickets, a hotel room and a luxury apartment from the undercover agents.

In the last instance, authorities say Cannon got $20,000 in cash in the mayor's office.

He allegedly accepted the largesse in exchange for returning the favor using his powers as a City Council member, mayor pro tem and, eventually, mayor.

Cannon appeared in court Wednesday and was released on bond, the U.S. attorney's office reported.

If convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to as many as 50 years in federal prison and pay as much as $1.5 million in fines, officials said.

Cannon succeeded then-Mayor Anthony Foxx, who in July 2013 was sworn in as U.S. Transportation Secretary.

State Sen. Leland Yee, an outspoken Democrat who is a gun control and open government advocate, was arrested Wednesday on charges he conspired to traffic in firearms and traded favors in Sacramento for bribes. He was allegedly taking bribes from men who turned out to be FBI agents.

Yee, who is running for secretary of state and currently represents half of San Francisco, was being held on $500,000 bail after appearing handcuffed and shackled in federal court.

He was charged with six counts of depriving the public of honest services and one count of conspiracy to traffic in guns without a license. He’s also accused of trying to help an undercover agent obtain weapons from a Muslim rebel group.................Yee is the third Democratic senator to face charges this year. Sen. Rod Wright was convicted of perjury and voter fraud for lying about his legal residence in Los Angeles County, and Sen. Ron Calderon has been indicted on federal corruption charges. Wright and Calderon are taking a voluntary leave of absence, with pay, although Republicans have called for them to be suspended or expelled from the Legislature.

Investigators said Yee discussed helping the agent get weapons worth $500,000 to $2.5 million, including shoulder-fired missiles, and explained the entire process of acquiring them from a Muslim separatist group in the Philippines to bringing them to the U.S., according to an affidavit by FBI agent Emmanuel V. Pascua.

Yee said he was unhappy with his life and told the agent he wanted to hide out in the Philippines, the document said. “There’s a part of me that wants to be like you,” he told the undercover agent. “You know how I’m going to be like you? Just be a free agent there.”

The introduction with the trafficker took place at a San Francisco restaurant earlier this month, according to the documents. Yee said he wouldn’t go to the Philippines until November.

“Once things start to move, it’s going to attract attention. We just got to be extra-extra careful,” he said, according to court documents.

Read more: http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/26/fbi-conducts-raids-in-san-francisco-bay-area/#ixzz2xBcl1baQ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

 d-usa wrote:
He gets guns off the streets via capitalism, he's a hero!

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
He gets guns off the streets via capitalism, he's a hero!

He's emblematic of the progressive left.

 d-usa wrote:

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
He gets guns off the streets via capitalism, he's a hero!

He's emblematic of the progressive left.

Typing stuff like that makes you so adorable. I just wanna pinch those conservative cheeks.

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
He gets guns off the streets via capitalism, he's a hero!

He's emblematic of the progressive left.

 whembly wrote:

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
He gets guns off the streets via capitalism, he's a hero!

He's emblematic of the progressive left.

Nah... if true, he's a crook.

Progressive Left™ ain't all crooks... misguided, yes. Crooks? Not necessarily.

 Spacemanvic wrote:
He's emblematic of the progressive left.

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
He gets guns off the streets via capitalism, he's a hero!

He's emblematic of the progressive left.

Nah... if true, he's a crook.

Progressive Left™ ain't all crooks... misguided, yes. Crooks? Not necessarily.

They steal my money (tax) to continue their BS.

They're crooks.

 Seaward wrote:

 Spacemanvic wrote:
He's emblematic of the progressive left.

I disagree. This guy has some entrepreneurial motivation.

 Seaward wrote:

 Spacemanvic wrote:
He's emblematic of the progressive left.

I disagree. This guy has some entrepreneurial motivation.

 Spacemanvic wrote:


If prostitution is entrepreneurial, then I guess so....

 whembly wrote:
Yee is dropping out of his race...
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Leland-Yee-quits-secretary-of-state-race-5354744.php

 Jihadin wrote:
Link to Affidavit?