CA Senate unloads Yee baggage, broad Chow context, loose Pacifica connection

 

Leland Yee and Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow

San Francisco Chronicle/Willie Brown, 3/29/14. "CA Sen Yee's suspension a bid to quickly cleanse Capital." "Make no mistake, the state Senate vote to suspend Leland Yee and two other lawmakers was intended to stop the political bleeding as quickly as possible. It was a move by the body to protect itself, pure and simple. .... "... For the past 10 years, Yee has been a staunch Willie Brown basher, accusing me at every campaign stop of cronyism, corruption and "power broker" politics. But then that is classic Leland: bash you one day, then show up at your event and talk about how long you've been buddies.  I have to say, however, that he has always been an incredibly hard worker. He goes to every event. He says hello to everybody. And he answers everybody's questions the way they want them answered."  Read article.

Related -  San Francisco Chronicle/Phil Matier and Andrew Ross, 3/29/14, "Yee case started in 2006 after killing of Chinatown leader."  The federal investigation that snared state Sen. Leland Yee and 25 others in a wide-ranging racketeering and corruption case was triggered by the 2006 slaying of San Francisco businessman and tong leader Allen Leung. 

....  As one of their first acts in trying to solve the murder, San Francisco police and the FBI staked out the swearing-in of Leung's successor, Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, according to the 137-page affidavit made public following Yee's arrest Wednesday. Chow was a local Chinatown mobster who three years earlier had been released from federal prison after snitching out his former crime boss.  Leung had told police before his death that Chow had been trying to extort $100,000 from him and that he feared for his life, law enforcement sources tell us.

....  In 1992, law enforcement sources say, a federal wiretap revealed that Chow had planned to send three hit men to Boston to knock off a rival tong leader - only the attack was called off when he and his crew got wind that the FBI had caught on to their plan. Later that year, however, Chow and 14 Wo Hop To cohorts were busted for a home invasion robbery and for running a brothel in Pacifica. That one finally landed Chow behind bars."

Note:  Yee and Chow photographs from VEOOZ World/Alabama local news.

Posted by Kathy Meeh