GOOD NEWS FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT AR’S!!
Both Ron Calderon/his brother
Tom Calderon– and Leland Yee–who often helped carry HSUS bills in CA— termed out December 2014 and will never return to the CA legislature.
Each has been accused of felony crimes and ousted out of the legislature.
—-> If Ron Calderon were to be convicted of the 24 charges in the indictment, he would face a statutory maximum sentence of 396 years in federal prison. We believe Calderon hired Mark Geragos as defense counsel. (Note: will be interesting to see if Geragos can get Calderon off–we kinda doubt it, BUT–no one likes a senator that rapes the public.)
In 2010, Calderon was one of 38 lawmakers the Fair Political Practices Commission questioned for not properly reporting gifts. His case involved a $1,400 weekend he and his wife spent at the Pebble Beach golf resort, hosted by the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies.
In 2007, the FPPC criticized a Calderon bill that would have
limited disclosure of donations that interest groups
give to a charity at a politician’s request.
Calderon ultimately had the bill pulled from the governor’s desk. In 2014, a different law was passed which forces disclosure by interest groups under certain criteria amounts. See
http://www.governing.com/news/headlines/ca-nonprofits-will-have-to-identify-donors.html
—- >If Tom Calderon is convicted of the money laundering charges alleged in the indictment, he would face a statutory maximum sentence of 160 years in prison.
The investigation into the Calderons was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigation. [Note: what’s interesting is that bail for these two idiots was low, 25k and 50k.] “He Ron Calderon) has also carried bills backed by more liberal interests, including government watchdog group Common Cause and the animal advocates Humane Society of the United States. “My only experiences with him have been positive with respect to support for our agenda,” said Jennifer Fearing, a lobbyist for the Humane Society, which sponsored the bill on cockfighting issues….
Senator Lee in 2016, took a plea to some type of corruption (RACKETEERING AND ARMS TRAFFICKING)… He was lucky he received 5yr term, Federal prison. 5yr in Fed prison is a cakewalk compared to any time in State prison.
Ron Calderon, a former state senator, faces 10 counts of mail and wire fraud, four counts of bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, seven counts of money laundering 
and two counts of tax fraud……………
Tom Calderon, a former state assemblyman is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and seven counts of money laundering.
The 28-page indictment accuses Ron Calderon of accepting $100,000 in cash bribes, as well as plane trips, gourmet meals and golf resort junkets in exchange for championing laws favorable to those who paid him and fighting laws that could harm them.
Ron Calderon is out on $50,000 bail, while Tom Calderon is out on $25,000 bail.
Ron Calderon carried bills from HSUS. In fact, legislature members that carried HSUS laws regularly should probably not be trusted. If you think in CA that this was just a coincidence, trust us—it is not.
CA State Sen. Leland Yee indicted on arms trafficking, corruption charges
- Mar 26:
- Sen. Leland Yee arrest: The 26 defendants in case involving firearms, money laundering and other charges
- Document: Criminal complaint against Leland Yee, 25 others
- Leland Yee arrest: From ‘Shrimp Boy’ to ‘Dragon Head,’ Raymond Chow at center of Chinatown gang
- Leland Yee arrest: Social media reaction
- Photos: Sen. Leland Yee indicted, sites raided by FBI
- Raymond ‘Shrimp Boy’ Chow: Profiles, documentaries featuring the former Chinatown gangster
- Sen. Leland Yee’s arrest likely ends steady, sometimes paradoxical political rise
- State Sen. Leland Yee indicted on arms trafficking, corruption charges
SAN FRANCISCO — Known for navigating the state Capitol’s backrooms and this city’s complicated political landscape, state Sen. Leland Yee now is accused of consorting with notorious felons, accepting money for his cash-strapped political campaigns in exchange for favors and promising undercover FBI agents he could deliver connections to international gun runners.
In a stunning development that almost certainly torpedoes Yee’s quest for statewide office, the San Francisco Democrat wound up glum and disoriented in a federal courtroom Wednesday. The politician who introduced anti-gun-violence legislation is now charged with trafficking in firearms and public corruption in an FBI undercover operation that could land him in prison for years.
“Senator Yee should leave the Senate and leave it now,” he said.
With scenes resembling the recent movie blockbuster “American Hustle,” Yee is depicted in a startling, 137-page FBI affidavit of repeatedly offering to broker illegal firearms sales in exchange for campaign contributions. He allegedly took part in dealmaking meetings with undercover agents, often arranged by San Francisco political consultant Keith Jackson, a close associate among two dozen figures charged in the case.
Yee is linked to a host of wrongdoing to pad his political warchest, charged with seven felonies in a case with two dozen defendants accused of everything from money laundering to murder-for-hire. The defendants include Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, a reputed ringleader of a Chinese syndicate federal investigators have been trying to crack since the late 1980s.
A federal magistrate judge released Yee on $500,000 bond, and he brushed past a swarm of reporters and left the courthouse in a dark blue BMW. Paul DeMeester, Yee’s lawyer, said he was encouraged the senator was released and added: “The future will hold a lot of work.”
The government’s case will no doubt be challenged as the case unfolds. It rests largely on the FBI’s accounts of Yee’s meetings with undercover agents, which include alleged attempts to improperly land cash for his current secretary of state campaign.
But as recently as last month, Yee was engaged in the secretive meetings, at one point telling an undercover operative with whom he was trying to cut an arms deal that he was ready to cash in on his connections in Asia if he lost his current bid to become secretary of state, according to court papers.
Yee, who once championed a California (HSUS) law that would have outlawed violent video games**, told undercover operatives that he had ties to an international arms dealer with connections as far-flung as Russia, during one meeting saying: “Do I think we can make some money? I think we can make some money,” according to the FBI affidavit.
**PD note: Yee pushed the HSUS “violent video” game law that was eventually legally challenged in the Supreme Court of the United States, which found the HSUS law was completely and utterly unconstitutional.
The charges surfaced during a whirlwind day of law enforcement raids around the Bay Area, where Yee was arrested early in the morning at home and Chow was hauled from bed by federal agents. In all, the criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday charges 26 people — including Yee and Chow — with crimes including firearms trafficking, money laundering, murder-for-hire, drug distribution, trafficking in contraband cigarettes and “honest services” fraud. That last charge is the centerpiece of the case against Yee and Jackson and effectively alleges they attempted to secure political donations in exchange for their help, including arranging the firearms deals. But federal agents never culminated the arms deals through Yee, though they did give him cash, the affidavit says.
Yee is charged with conspiracy to traffic in firearms without a license and to illegally import firearms, and six counts of scheming to defraud citizens of honest services. Each corruption count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, while the gun-trafficking count is punishable by up to five years and $250,000.
The charges are particularly shocking given that Yee has been among the state Senate’s most outspoken advocates both of gun control and of good-government initiatives
SENATOR RON CALDERON– Usually on HSUS legislation
Feb. 14 2014
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A California state senator was charged Friday with accepting $100,000 in bribes, lavish trips and no-show jobs for his children in exchange for pushing legislation to benefit a hospital engaged in billing fraud and participating in a film industry tax scheme that actually was an FBI sting.
The 24-count federal indictment against Sen. Ron Calderon, a Democrat from a politically prominent family in Los Angeles’ blue-collar suburbs, depicts a rogue legislator eager to trade his clout at the state Capitol to enrich himself and his family. His brother Tom, a former state lawmaker-turned-lobbyist, was charged with money-laundering for funneling bribes through a tax-exempt group he controlled, prosecutors said.
After months of intensifying scrutiny, Sen. Ron Calderon will take an indefinite leave of absence while he fights felony charges. He will term out end of the year.
Controversy has trailed the Montebello Democrat since FBI agents raided his office last summer, the first public glimpse of a wide-ranging corruption investigation. A grand jury recently charged Calderon with 24 felony counts related to accepting bribes in order to steer legislation for his benefactors.
Pet Defense 