California state Senator Leland Yee appears to be headed to federal prison for several years, according to this story in the San Jose Mercury News. In his plea agreement to avoid an August trial, he conceded that he used his bids for San Francisco mayor and California secretary of state) as “racketeering enterprises to extort bribes for his cash-starved campaigns.”
It’s hard to say what makes the story most bizarre, but we’d nominate this component: Once called “California Senate’s Top Gun-Control Advocate,” he has confirmed his involvement in an illegal arms import deal theoretically involving Filipino Islamists. We say theoretically because it’s hard to sort out who were FBI undercover agents, and who weren’t.
Apparently, firearms that generate campaign cash are all well and good with Dr. Yee (doctorate in Child Psychology); firearms—at least in California—for self-defense or recreation, not so much.
