Free Republic

Julie Lee, the Sunset District community organizer and political fundraiser who illegally funneled state grant money into a campaign account of former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, was sentenced Friday to five years of probation for state crimes that included grand theft, embezzlement and forgery. Lee pleaded guilty to the state charges in July, just days after being convicted of similar federal crimes. Last month, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton sentenced Lee to a year and a day behind bars and denied a request from Lee's attorneys that she be sentenced to probation and house arrest. On Friday, San...

The San Francisco community organizer who illegally funneled state grant money into a campaign account of former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was sentenced this morning to a year and a day behind bars. In July, a federal court found Julie Lee guilty of mail fraud and witness tampering charges. Shelley resigned months after The Chronicle broke news of the money-funneling scheme that involved a $500,000 grant for a Sunset District community center that was never built. Shelley was never charged with any crimes and denied knowing about Lee's intentions. Lee made an emotional plea for leniency in court,...

San Francisco community organizer Julie Lee, whose questionable fundraising helped push former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley out of politics, has pled guilty to state criminal charges just days after a jury found her guilty on federal charges. Lee, 62, pleaded guilty to all nine counts brought against her in state court, including grand theft, embezzlement and forgery. The charges relate to an alleged scheme to funnel part of a $500,000 state grant intended for a community center into Shelley's 2002 election campaign. The community center was never built.In a statement released today, The San Francisco District Attorney's office...

The defense's case in the Sacramento trial of San Francisco political power broker Julie Lee was short and sensational Wednesday. The only witness called was Willie Brown, an icon of California politics, Assembly speaker longer than any other person and two-term mayor of San Francisco. Brown, nattily dressed as always in a gray suit and dark shirt and tie, had high praise for Lee as a grass-roots activist who shared his goal while mayor to build a community center for families and youths in the heavily Chinese American Sunset district on the city's west side. "It was something that everybody...

A San Francisco engineer testified Tuesday in Sacramento federal court that political fundraiser Julie Lee asked him to adopt fraudulent documents to satisfy auditors looking into Lee's use of state grant money. James Li described for a jury how Lee, in the summer of 2004, brought him "a bundle of documents in an envelope and asked me to review them and be prepared to answer questions from state controller auditors." Among the documents, Li told the jury, was a backdated invoice that purported to be from his firm seeking payment of $621,300 from Lee's nonprofit San Francisco Neighbors Resource Center...

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson demanded Monday that the state sue his predecessor, Democrat Kevin Shelley, to recover nearly $3 million in federal funds that were misspent or mismanaged. McPherson, in a letter to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said it is "imperative that you bring legal action at once." "It is wholly unfair and unacceptable that the taxpayers of California would be required to lose funds" due to the "documented misconduct and mismanagement of Kevin Shelley." McPherson said he was reacting to a ruling Monday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission that requires California to repay $2.92 million in federal...

There's a final resolution to federal election assistance money given to California and, according to authorities, misspent by the office of former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. This morning, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission closed the books on the investigation into how Shelley spent some $3.8 million in funds allocated through the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The spending was part of the scandal allegations that drove Shelley from office in 2004. It included payments for activities not related to HAVA, including payments to consultants who appeared to be doing pro-Shelley political work on the federal government's dime. Secretary...

SACRAMENTO – Former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who resigned under pressure in February, misspent or failed to document more than $3.8 million in federal election money, according to a federal audit released yesterday. ~snip~ Shelley, a Democrat, denied wrongdoing but resigned after he was accused of mishandling the money, bending state hiring rules to reward allies, and accepting questionable campaign contributions.

SAN FRANCISCO - A state grand jury is investigating the activities of a fundraiser for former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and is expected to hand down an indictment within a week, it was disclosed in court Thursday. During a procedural hearing on a criminal complaint filed in April against Julie Lee by the San Francisco District Attorney's and the state attorney general's offices, Steven Gruel, Lee's defense lawyer, said a grand jury had been convened. Assistant District Attorney Davina Pujari indirectly confirmed that, telling Superior Court Judge Perker Meeks Jr. that whatever action the grand jury takes could be...

Sources say Shelley fund-raiser accused of diverting grant funds. State prosecutors charged a top volunteer fund-raiser for former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley with grand theft and other felonies on Thursday, accusing her of diverting $125,000 from a taxpayer-funded grant to Shelley's 2002 campaign fund, sources with knowledge of the case told The Chronicle. The complaint, filed under seal in San Francisco Superior Court, claims that Julie Lee, a San Francisco businesswoman, city commissioner and political power broker in the Asian community, forged documents to obtain state funds, used the money for illegal purposes and later falsified records to cover...

Through her aggressive fund raising for San Francisco politicians, Julie Lee transformed herself from grassroots activist to City Hall insider and political power broker. But that same largesse and the power it brought her have written the most bitter chapter of Lee's career, leading to the resignation from office of one of her biggest benefactors, Kevin Shelley, as California secretary of state -- and now felony charges said to have been filed against her by the state attorney general Thursday. Lee coveted insider access, say those who worked closely with her, and she quickly learned that campaign contributions opened the...

Shelley's Last Day As Secretary Of State Uneventful Friday was the last day in office for California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who has already packed up his office and left town. "Kevin Shelley was here on Tuesday. (He) called an agency-wide staff meeting. (He was) very, very cordial, very pleasant. (He) thanked the staff for all of their hard work," said Secretary of State Office spokeswoman Caren Daniels-Meade. Shelley stepped down after being investigated for misuse of government money. He made the announcement last month and was set to resign March 1. But he extended the date until Friday...

Kevin Shelley’s State-Issued PDA Stolen From Home Someone broke into outgoing Secretary of State Kevin Shelly's San Francisco home last weekend. Whoever did it bypassed valuables and decided to take only Shelley's state-issued personal digital assistant. According to San Francisco police, Shelley called authorities Sunday morning after discovering someone had apparently entered his Everson Street home during the night though an open window. Shelley told police he had left the window open, but noticed the opening had been widened when he woke up in the morning. Shelley also told police that he may have wiped-off a smudge from the windowsill...

Sacramento -- Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has moved his resignation date from Tuesday to Friday, citing "administrative convenience,'' according to his resignation letter. Shelley, who was mired in ethics scandals and the subject of multiple investigations into his fund raising and his handling of federal voting act money, announced Feb. 3 that he would step down from the office effective Tuesday. Neither the secretary of state's office nor the governor's office could provide more information Friday about why the resignation date had changed.

(02-11) 10:01 PST SACRAMENTO, (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to name a longtime former Santa Cruz legislator, Bruce McPherson, as California's 29th secretary of state Friday, sources told the San Jose Mercury News. McPherson, 61, who left the state Senate last year after 11 years in the Legislature, would replace Kevin Shelley, who resigned last Friday while facing numerous investigations into his conduct in office. Shelley's resignation takes effect March 1. The governor's office scheduled an 11 a.m. announcement on the appointment.

Analysis: A career flattened by a chain of blunders By Amy Chance -- Bee Political Editor Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, February 5, 2005 Secretary of State Kevin Shelley insisted to the end that he had done nothing illegal, and even his harshest critics had to concede Friday that there's no concrete evidence to contradict that yet. What he did do, however, had piled up to the point that it crushed both his ability to run his office and preserve his political career: * He created what the State Personnel Board concluded was "an abusive working environment" for his staff,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was to announce his resignation Friday amid investigations into his handling of federal election funds, questionable campaign contributions and bad behavior, a source close to Shelley told The Associated Press. Shelley, 49, was leaving his $131,250-a-year post before having to testify later this month at a Legislature audit committee hearing about his handling of millions of dollars in federal elections funds. Shelley, the son of former San Francisco Mayor and U.S. Rep. Jack Shelley, was once one of California's rising political stars. His move paves the way for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Elections Assistance Commission voted Thursday to audit California's alleged misuse of federal election funds, dealing another blow to embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. In ordering what will be the first special audit under the $3 billion Help America Vote Act, the four-member commission based its unanimous decision on the spate of troubling questions raised in a report last month by the state's chief auditor, including Shelley's alleged use of federal elections-improvement money for partisan purposes. "I don't know of any circumstances where federal funds could be used at partisan events," said Gracia Hillman, the panel's...

The State Personnel Board hammered another nail into Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's political coffin Tuesday with a devastating report declaring that he maintained "an abusive working environment ... for those employees who have to work directly with the secretary." The question is not whether Shelley's political career, which began with local office in San Francisco and included a stint in the Legislature, is toast, but only what form his departure will take, and whether he may face criminal charges as well. Shelley's fellow Democrats in the Legislature, who clearly were trying to shield him, now want him to disappear...

Secretary of State Website Gives Out False Information California’s Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, already under fire for misuse of federal tax dollars and other allegations of impropriety, finds himself accused of providing misleading and false information to the public in what some say is a blatant attempt to harm the signature gathering process of the Save Our License Initiative. “It’s quite alarming that Shelley would incorrectly list the due date for Save Our License petitions,” stated Mike Spence, President of the California Republican Assembly which is sponsoring the initiative. “As a result, we’ve had erroneous press reports which are...