Ex-Sen. Leland Yee may be headed for a plea deal

Former state Sen. Leland Yee leaves the Federal Building in San Francisco after a bond hearing in 2014. Yee, who has denied all charges, is free on bail. Former state Sen. Leland Yee leaves the Federal Building in San Francisco after a bond hearing in 2014. Yee, who has denied all charges, is free on bail. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Ex-Sen. Leland Yee may be headed for a plea deal 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Former state Sen. Leland Yee, who until now has denied charges of political corruption, money laundering and racketeering, is scheduled to change his plea in federal court Wednesday.

A federal judge has calendared change-of-plea hearings for Yee and three co-defendants who had been scheduled to go to trial Aug. 10. Such hearings are held to enable criminal defendants to plead guilty, usually after negotiations with the prosecutor.

The other defendants are former San Francisco school board President Keith Jackson, who served as a consultant and fundraiser for Yee; Jackson’s son Brandon; and sports agent Marlon Sullivan.

Defense lawyers could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Abraham Simmons, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, declined to comment.

Yee, D-San Francisco, was arrested March 26, 2014, and initially was charged with accepting $62,000 in bribes from FBI agents posing as contributors in exchange for legislative favors. The favors included voting for several bills, setting up a meeting for an agent who posed as a medical marijuana supplier and agreeing to illegally import firearms from the Philippines.

He is also accused of agreeing with Keith Jackson to use Yee’s unsuccessful campaigns for San Francisco mayor in 2011 and for California secretary of state last year, as “racketeering enterprises” to collect illicit contributions.

Another federal grand jury indictment in January added money-laundering charges, alleging that Yee and Keith Jackson had tried to conceal the source of bribes the senator allegedly received for arranging a meeting between a purported donor and another lawmaker, and for smuggling guns. They were accused of accepting $11,000 from an undercover agent in June 2013 to set up the meeting, and of trying to cover their tracks by soliciting $12,600 in campaign contributions from three unidentified donors and paying them back in cash. They were also charged with accepting $6,800 from another agent in March 2014 as part of the gun-running agreement.

Keith Jackson was separately charged with conspiring to arrange a murder for hire, an alleged plot against a fictitious victim set up by an FBI agent.

Several of the charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Actual sentences are usually much lower, especially for those without previous criminal records.

Still, in view of the seriousness of the accusations and Yee’s position in public office, “it’s hard to believe that it won’t involve several years of prison time,” said Robert Weisberg, a Stanford criminal law professor.

The most common reasons for a pretrial plea agreement, Weisberg said, are that “the prosecutor’s offering something they hadn’t offered before, or the defendant ran out of options for trial strategy.” With multiple defendants, he said, it’s also common for some to agree to testify against others in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Yee, now free on bail, was suspended by the state Senate after his arrest. His Senate term expired in January. He also suspended his campaign for secretary of state.

Also charged, and facing a separate trial, are two dozen other defendants, including Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, a former gang leader in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He is accused of running an established Chinese American community organization, the Ghee Kung Tong, as a racketeering enterprise that trafficked in drugs, weapons and stolen goods.

Yee was not accused of taking part in any crimes with Chow, but the charges against the former legislator include winning passage of a Senate resolution honoring Chow’s organization in exchange for a bribe. Federal prosecutors said Keith Jackson, an associate of Chow’s, was the link between Chow and Yee.

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