Judge won’t clear ‘Shrimp Boy,’ says Mayor Lee not implicated

In this image provided by Jen Siska, Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, is seen posing for a portrait in San Francisco in July 2007. Investigators say Chow is the leader of one of the most powerful Asian gangs in North America. Chow's gang is said to have lured state Sen. Leland Yee into its clutches through money and campaign contributions in exchange for legislative help, as Yee sought to build his campaign coffers to run for California secretary of state. Yee and Chow were both arraigned on federal gun and corruption charges on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Jen Siska) MAGS OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE less In this image provided by Jen Siska, Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, is seen posing for a portrait in San Francisco in July 2007. Investigators say Chow is the leader of one of the most powerful Asian gangs in ... more Photo: Jen Siska, Associated Press Photo: Jen Siska, Associated Press Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Judge won’t clear ‘Shrimp Boy,’ says Mayor Lee not implicated 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

An attempt by lawyers for a former Chinatown gang leader to dismiss racketeering charges by pointing the finger at San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee — and at federal prosecutors, who allegedly let Lee and his associates off the hook — didn’t impress a federal judge.

Attorneys for Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, one of two dozen defendants facing trial in November, argued that he was being selectively prosecuted for political reasons. In an Aug. 4 court filing, they disclosed prosecution documents showing that a federal agent, posing as a businessman, met with two of Lee’s fundraisers in 2012 and promised a $10,000 campaign contribution. The agent then met with Lee, who allegedly had been told of the donation, and discussed possible real estate projects, according to the same documents.

Chow’s lawyers argued in court Thursday that they had presented enough evidence of wrongdoing by Lee and other officials to require the U.S. attorney’s office to disclose internal documents explaining why the mayor wasn’t charged. But U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said the defense lawyers hadn’t shown credible evidence of misconduct by Lee or the prosecutors.

“I see no evidence whatsoever of any criminal wrongdoing by the mayor,” Breyer said during a one-hour hearing in his San Francisco courtroom.

He said the defense lawyers’ allegations, even if true, would fall short of the basic elements of selective prosecution: a showing that others who had committed similar crimes were not prosecuted and that Chow was being singled out for improper reasons.

The undercover agent’s account of his conversations with Lee and his fundraisers showed mostly “what political campaigning is about, which is raising money,” Breyer said. He said there was no talk of trading contributions for political favors — in contrast to former state Sen. Leland Yee, who pleaded guilty to racketeering in the same investigation on July 1 and admitted promising legislative assistance, and illegal smuggling of firearms, to his purported campaign donors.

Breyer also said Chow’s lawyers hadn’t backed up their claim that their client was charged for an illegitimate reason, his outspoken activity and visibility in the Asian American community, which allegedly upset city power brokers. He noted that prosecutors have filed similar charges against 16 other defendants who haven’t been nearly as visible or politically active as Chow.

Defense lawyer J. Tony Serra disputed Breyer’s last point. The co-defendants, he told the judge, were “small fish,” and Chow and his allies were the prosecutors’ targets.

“This is a political case,” Serra said. He said Lee and other officials investigated by the FBI, in documents provided to Chow’s lawyers and disclosed in the Aug. 4 filing, were spared because they’re “too big to fall.”

Curtis Briggs, another lawyer for Chow, told Breyer that Lee’s “activities were criminal” and that his avoidance of prosecution casts a cloud over the entire case. He said the mayor, in a meeting documented by federal agents, “provided a list of properties ... sweetheart deals ... after he took the bribe.”

But Breyer said a mayor is supposed to discuss local projects with real estate developers — or with people he believes are developers — and questioned whether Lee knew he was talking to a would-be campaign contributor.

Briggs said Lee’s fundraisers, Nazly Mohajer, then a member of the city’s Human Rights Commission, and Zula Jones, a commission staff member, had told the agent that Lee was aware of the $10,000 contribution. The mayor did not mention money, however, in his subsequent discussion with the agent, according to the agent’s account in prosecution documents.

“He’s a good criminal,” Briggs said. “He gets away with it.”

Chow was released from prison in 2003 after a previous racketeering conviction and has won praise since then, from Lee and other officials, for his work with troubled youths. In 2006, he became the leader of an established Chinese American organization, the Ghee Kung Tong. Prosecutors say he ran it as a criminal enterprise and took payments from undercover agents for trafficking in guns, drugs and stolen cigarettes.

Chow’s lawyers say agents repeatedly tried to persuade him to commit crimes for money, without success. A court filing Wednesday by another defendant in the case recounted a wiretapped conversation in which Chow told an agent, who was imploring him to take a payoff, that he didn’t need the money. The same filing described undercover operatives wining and dining Chow and his colleagues in fancy restaurants and hotels, and inducing Chow to accept money by getting him drunk.

Chow and his co-defendants are scheduled to go to trial Nov. 2.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko