Anti-violent games senator Yee charged with campaign fraud, firearms trafficking

Yesterday, it was announced that California State Senator Leland Yee (D), who tried to pass a bill banning the sale of violent games to children, had been arrested for suspicion of bribery and corruption by the FBI. Today, the federal body has released the criminal complaint against Yee, and among the charges listed are firearms trafficking.

Yee and 25 other defendants were charged in the raid, and along with firearms trafficking,  Yee has also been charges with campaign contribution fraud, according to the press release.

According to a criminal complaint (PDF) published by the US Attorney's office, Yee and Keith Jackson raised campaign funds for the senator's Secretary of State campaign and were caught "soliciting donations from FBI undercover agents, in exchange for multiple official acts," according to Polygon.

Jackson has been a consultant of Yees's since 2011, and had allegedly solicited an undercover FBI agent for contributions to Yee's San Francisco unsuccessful mayoral campaign.

Yee and Jackson are both being charged with soliciting another undercover agent and accepting $5,000 to the mayoral campaign, which is limited to $500 per person -  a politician is not permitted by law to accept more than $500 from individuals.

Jackson is also said to have solicited a donation from an agents so Yee could "facilitate a meeting with an arms dealer" in which the the agent would  purchase a large number of weapons for importing.

The charges filed against Yee carry a sentence of 5-20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count.

Other defendants include Raymond “Shrimpboy” Chow, the current Dragonhead, or leader, of the San Francisco-based Chee Kung Tong organization (CKT).