Leland Yee Co-Defendant Keith Jackson Released After Bail Granted
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A political consultant playing a key role in the political corruption scandal that has ensnared state senator Leland Yee has been released from jail.
Amy Merriweather, a spokeswoman for Keith Jackson's lawyers, say he was released Thursday evening after a magistrate judge earlier in the day ordered him freed on $250,000 bond.
Jackson was arrested March 26 along with state Sen. Leland Yee and 18 others connected to a Chinatown community organization that the FBI says is a front for a notorious organized crime syndicate.
Jackson has been charged with two gun trafficking charges and six counts of public corruption.
Yee has been charged with accepting bribes and conspiring to connect an undercover FBI agent with an international arms dealer in exchange for campaign contributions.
Read More:
Complete Coverage Of The Leland Yee Scandal
Download the 137-page Criminal Complaint (.pdf)
Who Is Keith Jackson?
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Frentzen asked for a stay.
"We are planning to seek an appeal," she said.
"We continue to oppose his release given the charges and his history," Frentzen told the magistrate.
Most of the defendants were arrested on March 26, including Jackson, who has been in custody since then.
Jackson is accused of funneling campaign contributions to Yee in exchange for political favors to donors, selling guns and ballistic vests to a buyer who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent, conspiring to distribute drugs, conspiring with Yee in a proposed $2 million international arms deal, and aiding in the arrangement of a proposed murder-for-hire. The arms deal and murder never happened.
Former SF School Board President Keith Jackson To Be Released On Bond
An arraignment for most of the defendants on a possible indictment has been scheduled for next Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero in San Francisco.
The bail includes a $50,000 bond to be posted by Jackson's mother, Annie Scott, for the value of her mobile home in Texas.
Scott and Jackson's companion, Pamela Gilmore, also both signed additional unsecured bonds in which they promised to be liable for the entire $250,000 if Jackson fails to show up for court hearings.
Cousins ordered Jackson to submit to electronic monitoring and remain in home confinement in the California Street apartment he shares with Gilmore except for meetings with his lawyers, work, medical appointments or religious services.
© Copyright 2014 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
