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U.S. NEWSThursday 25 February 2016

Ex-California state senator sentenced in racketeering case

Former California State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, leaves federal court in San Francisco. and 9 months and six years. pervisors.
A federal judge sentenced Yee on Wednesday to five years in prison after he acknowledged in a Prosecutors had recom- He pleaded guilty in July to
plea deal that he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes and discussed helping an undercover mended an eight-year one count of conspiracy
FBI agent buy automatic weapons from the Philippines. sentence. to engage in racketeering.
Yee’s attorneys had called The charge was filed as
(AP Photo/Noah Berger) for no more than five years part of an organized crime
and three months behind investigation
SUDHIN THANAWALA cover FBI agent buy auto- in exchange for money. bars, saying Yee had a his- in San Francisco’s China-
Associated Press matic weapons from the “I don’t feel I should be le- tory of public service and town that led to charges
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Philippines. nient,” Breyer said during his wife was ill. against more than two
federal judge sentenced Senior District Court Judge the hearing. Yee, 67, told the judge be- dozen people.
former California state Charles Breyer called “The crimes that you com- fore sentencing that he The probe also snared Ray-
senator Leland Yee on the weapons allegations mitted have resulted in es- had accepted responsibil- mond “Shrimp Boy” Chow,
Wednesday to five years against Yee — a gun con- sentially an attack on dem- ity for his crimes and want- a flamboyant leader of a
in prison after he acknowl- trol advocate —unfathom- ocratic institutions.” ed to take care of his dis- Chinese fraternal organi-
edged in a plea deal that able and said it was fright- Still, Breyer’s sentence fell abled wife. zation — the Ghee Kung
he accepted thousands ening that Yee would be on the low end of guide- “Nothing will ever take Tong.
of dollars in bribes and dis- willing to go entirely against lines that called for a prison away those crimes and Federal agents say one
cussed helping an under- his public position on guns term of between four years those actions,” he said. of Chow’s associates was
“Nothing that I will ever Keith Jackson, a former San
do will take away the pain Francisco school board
that I have caused to my president and well-known
family friends, constituents, political consultant who
supporters.” raised money for Yee’s un-
Yee has been free pend- successful mayoral run in
ing sentencing. 2011 and his bid for secre-
Breyer ordered him to sur- tary of state.
render in 30 days. Yee and Prosecutor Susan Badger
his attorney declined com- said during the sentencing
ment outside the court- hearing that Yee was look-
room. ing for money to win the
Yee is a long-time politi- race for secretary of state
cian who also served in the as he was being forced
state Assembly and on the from the state Senate by
San Francisco Board of Su- term limits.
“Senator Yee abused that
Apple’s Cook: trust and faith in the worst
possible way. it wasn’t ac-
Complying with FBI demand ‘bad for America’ tually for personal financial
wealth,” she said.
BRANDON BAILEY request for help with the Federal officials have said bad for America. It would “It was to retain power as
AP Technology Writer iPhone used by Syed Fa- they’re only asking for nar- also set a precedent that a public official.”
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — rook, one of two extremists row assistance in bypassing I believe many people in Jackson led authorities to
Apple CEO Tim Cook said who killed 14 people in the some security features on America would be offend- Yee and pleaded guilty to
Wednesday that it would California city in Decem- the iPhone, ed by.” a racketeering charge. He
be “bad for America” if his ber. Cook complained that Ap- received a nine-year pris-
company complied with “Some things are hard and which they believe may ple learned from the news on sentence Wednesday.
the FBI’s demand for help some things are right, and contain information related media about a federal Yee acknowledged ac-
unlocking an encrypted some things are both. to the mass murders. Apple magistrate’s decision last cepting $11,000 in ex-
iPhone used by one of the This is one of those things,” has argued that doing so week to order the compa- change for setting up a
San Bernardino shooters. Cook said in a video clip would make other iPhones ny to create the software meeting with another state
In his first interview since the released by ABC News. more susceptible to hack- that FBI investigators want. senator, $10,000 for recom-
controversy erupted last The interview came as ing by authorities or crimi- Court documents indicate mending someone for a
week, both sides in the dispute nals in the future. that authorities had previ- grant, and $6,800 for pro-
Cook told ABC News that are courting public support “We know that doing this ously consulted with Apple viding a certificate on Cali-
it was a difficult choice to while also mustering legal would expose people to about ways to obtain the fornia State Senate letter-
resist the government’s arguments in the case. incredible vulnerabilities,” data on the phone.q head honoring the Ghee
Cook said. “This would be Kung Tong. q