1. Leland Yin Yee is an American former politician who served as a member of the California State Senate for District 8, which covered parts of San Francisco and the Peninsula.
39 Facts About Leland Yee
1. 2.
In 2004 Leland Yee became the first Asian American to be appointed Speaker pro Tempore, making him the second highest ranking Democrat of the California State Assembly.
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In 2015, Leland Yee pleaded guilty to felony racketeering charges for money laundering, political corruption, arms trafficking, and bribery.
4.
On February 24,2016, Leland Yee was sentenced to five years in federal prison, and was released on June 26,2020.
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Leland Yee immigrated to San Francisco, California from his birthplace of Taishan, Guangdong, China, when he was three years old and later became a naturalized American citizen.
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Leland Yee's father served in the United States Army and the United States Merchant Marine.
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Leland Yee was elected to the San Francisco Board of Education in 1988 and served two four-year terms on the board including one as board president.
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In 1992, Leland Yee was arrested for allegedly shoplifting a bottle of tanning oil and gum from the KTA Superstore in Kona's Keauhou Shopping Village.
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Leland Yee was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1996.
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In 1999, Leland Yee was stopped twice by police on suspicion of soliciting prostitutes in San Francisco's Mission District.
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In November 2002, Leland Yee was elected to the California State Assembly to represent the 12th district.
12.
In 2004, Leland Yee became the first Asian Pacific American to be appointed speaker pro tempore in the California State Assembly and was elected president of the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators.
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Leland Yee's bills passed in part to mass media concentration on the speculative link between video game violence and real world violence, as well as several support of concerned parent groups.
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On June 6,2006, Leland Yee defeated his opponents Mike Nevin and Lou Papan to win the Democratic nomination for the California State Senate.
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Leland Yee replaced Jackie Speier, who left office due to term limits.
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Leland Yee was a vocal advocate for gun control, both before and while engaged in gun running.
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In 2006 Leland Yee was named to the Gun Violence Prevention Honor Roll by the Brady Campaign for his efforts that included co-authoring a first-in-the-nation bill to require new semiautomatic handguns be equipped with ballistics identification technology known as microstamping.
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Leland Yee asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the change in rating.
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Leland Yee introduced SB 242, prohibiting businesses from denying services to customers that don't speak English.
20.
On January 23,2008, during a committee meeting, Leland Yee announced his opposition to the health care plan sponsored by Governor Schwarzenegger and supported by a majority of Democrats in the California State House and Senate, while opposed by a majority of Republicans.
21.
Leland Yee wrote SB 340, which requires businesses to list all automatic renewal offer terms and obtain customer approval, SB 13, which provides $16.3 million for domestic violence shelters, SB 786, which preserves an individual's right to enforce open government laws, and SB 447, which reforms the criminal background check laws for people seeking employment at youth organizations.
22.
In 2010 Leland Yee introduced SB 1451, a bill that ensures California students do not learn from a modified curriculum designed by Texas-based textbook publishers.
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Leland Yee wrote SB 399, a bill that would give a juvenile sentenced to life in prison without parole, the right to ask for a court review after ten years.
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Leland Yee introduced SB 920, a bill allowing Californians to opt out of having phone books delivered to their homes.
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Leland Yee was the third largest taxpayer-funded gas card spender in the senate for 2010 costing $5,314.66.
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On January 30,2014, Leland Yee voted in favor of California Senate Constitutional Amendment 5.
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Leland Yee was named with 28 other defendants in the FBI criminal complaint.
28.
Leland Yee was accused of dealing firearms without a license and illegally importing firearms.
29.
Leland Yee discussed the opportunity for an agent to get weapons worth up to $2.5 million from a Muslim separatist group in the Philippines to bring them to the US.
30.
On July 1,2015, Leland Yee pled guilty to charges of racketeering.
31.
Leland Yee was sentenced to 5 years in prison on February 24,2016, and was released in June 2020.
32.
On November 10,2010, Leland Yee filed his candidacy for the 2011 San Francisco mayoral election.
33.
In November 2012, Leland Yee declared that he would run for secretary of state of California in 2014.
34.
On March 27,2014, after being arrested on corruption charges, Leland Yee's attorney stated that Leland Yee would withdraw his candidacy for Secretary of State of California.
35.
Yet Leland Yee opposed CA Proposition 15 on the June 8,2010 statewide ballot in California which, had it been enacted, would have raised fees on registered lobbyists in California to fund with matching grants political campaigns for qualified candidates running for the Office of the California Secretary of State as a pilot project in 2014 and 2018.
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Leland Yee married his wife Maxine in 1972 and together they raised four children who attended San Francisco public schools.
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Leland Yee made his home in San Francisco's Sunset District, but turned himself in to the US Marshal's Service on March 25,2016, to serve a five-year federal prison sentence.
38.
In February 2013, Leland Yee claimed that he had received a death threat, which was very explicit, and not like previous claimed death threats.
39.
Leland Yee was named the California Legislator of the Year by San Francisco Women's Political Committee, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, California Society of Certified Public Accountants, Associated Students of the University of California and the California Faculty Association among others.