State Senator Leland Yee was arrested today on corruption charges. He was also a candidate for Secretary of State, but this likely ruins his chances at that office. His arrest was part of a major FBI operation in the Bay Area, which included the arrest of a Chinatown gangster. From the San Jose Mercury News:
Federal law enforcement officials have been chasing Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow for decades, branding him one of the longtime Bay Area leaders of a Hong Kong-based criminal syndicate called the Wo Hop To. Chow’s criminal rap sheet dates back to 1978, and includes multiple federal racketeering indictments that have included allegations of attempted murder, murder-for-hire, gun trafficking and other crimes.
SF Gate has the indictment, and more on Yee’s past brushes with the law.
The legislator has also had run-ins with the police. In 1999, San Francisco officers stopped him twice in the Mission District near Capp Street on suspicion he was soliciting sex workers in an area known for prostitution. Yee strongly denied the charges, saying he was a victim of mistaken identity.