San Francisco Political Activist Sentenced to a Year and a Day

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that United States District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton sentenced JULIE LEE, 62, of San Francisco, to one year and a day in prison for two counts of mail fraud and three counts of attempted witness tampering. A jury convicted LEE on July 11, 2008.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to Assistant United States Attorneys John K. Vincent and Lawrence G. Brown, who prosecuted the case, LEE defrauded the State of California by misusing $125,000 of a $500,000 grant to develop a community center that was awarded by the State to the San Francisco Neighbors Resource Center (SFNRC). LEE then misused the $125,000 to make campaign contributions through intermediaries to Kevin Shelley, who was a candidate for California Secretary of State in 2002.  She took steps to cover up her misuse of the grant funds including creating false and misleading documents and lying to state auditors and investigators to hide her misuse of the grant funds. In the attempted witness tampering counts, she attempted to corruptly persuade three witnesses not to talk to and to give false information to the federal agents investigating her.

LEE was ordered to surrender herself on November 4, 2008 to begin serving her sentence.

 

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