Leland Yee, Keith Jackson Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

By Scott Detrow and Associated Press

A federal grand jury has released an indictment charging state Sen. Leland Yee and 28 other defendants with crimes, including firearms trafficking, money laundering and public corruption.

The document formalizes the federal charges first announced last week, and doesn’t contain any new details about the alleged crimes.

Yee, a Democrat, is facing allegations he accepted bribes in exchange for official government favors, and that he offered to import illegal firearms from the Philippines. Chinatown gang figure Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow is facing a separate set of charges, including money laundering.

Yee was suspended from the state Senate last week, and has dropped out of the race for secretary of state. But his lawyer says the longtime officeholder plans to fight the allegations in court.

He faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted.

Consultant and former San Francisco school board president Keith Jackson was also among those indicted, on firearms, narcotics and murder-for-hire charges, among others.

Yee is free on $500,000 bond pending trial; Jackson was freed Thursday evening. Yee and most of the other defendants, including Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

Chow remains in jail after a magistrate judge declared the Hong Kong native and convicted felon a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Chow is the leader of a Chinese community group that the FBI says is a front for a notorious Asian gang. His charges include money laundering, trafficking in stolen goods and illegal cigarettes.

Two of the three new people charged in the case are Zanghao Wu and Tong Zao Zhang.

They are charged with buying contraband cigarettes from an undercover FBI agent in New York. The Marlboro-brand cigarettes were missing stamps that show New York state taxes had been paid.

The third new defendant, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, is Barry House, charged with taking part in an illegal gun deal with Jackson and with other firearms violations.

KQED NEWSROOM is a weekly news magazine program on television, radio and online. Watch Fridays at 8 p.m. on KQED Public Television 9, listen on Sundays at 6 p.m. on KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM and watch on demand here.