Former Sen. Leland Yee changes plea to guilty in corruption case

Former state Sen. Leland Yee pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of racketeering, admitting he accepted bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as campaign contributors.

In return for the payments, which totaled $34,600, Yee said in his plea agreement that he promised to vote for legislation his donors favored, recommend a software company for a state contract, arrange a meeting with another state senator over legislation, and illegally import firearms, including automatic weapons, from the Philippines.

“I also agreed ... to conduct ... the affairs of the campaign through a pattern of racketeering activity,” Yee said in the agreement, which was filed in court.

[...] pleading guilty to racketeering were Keith Jackson, a former San Francisco school board president who served as a consultant and fundraiser for Yee, Jackson’s son, Brandon, and sports agent Marlon Sullivan.

[...] the agreement for Keith Jackson, who admitted the same charge, specified that prosecutors could seek a maximum of 10 years in prison, and the defense could request a minimum of six years.

Despite their clients’ admissions of guilt, two defense lawyers said the FBI was at least partly responsible.

Prosecutors said Yee was trying to pay off the debt from his mayoral campaign with the money he solicited from undercover agents.

Yee’s record as a legislator included sponsorship of legislation banning the sale of violent video games to minors, a law that was later ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

[...] prosecutors said Yee, in meetings arranged by Keith Jackson, told an undercover FBI agent in meetings early last year that he could arrange to import firearms, including automatic rifles, from the Philippines in exchange for campaign contributions.

Other legislative favors Yee was accused of offering, in exchange for bribes, included setting up a legislative meeting for an agent who posed as a medical marijuana supplier, promising to vote for a bill restricting California workers’ compensation benefits for injured National Football League players, and winning passage of a Senate resolution honoring the Ghee Kung Tong, Chow’s organization.

The charge to which both Yee and Keith Jackson pleaded guilty accused them of using Yee’s 2011 mayoral campaign and his 2014 campaign for secretary of state as “racketeering enterprises” to collect illicit contributions.