Community Fund Raiser and Organizer Found Guilty
Aaron Wilmot
July 14, 2008
It was reported on some mainstream news outlets that the well known community fund raiser Julie Lee was found guilty on five of the seven charges that were filed against her. These seven charges in question against Lee all have their genesis in a half million dollar grant for the Sunset District Community Center which initially looked quite suspicious and later looked criminal the more it was investigated.
All in all, the charges against Lee were four charges of mail fraud as well as three charges of witness tampering. It should be noted here that on two of the mail fraud charges against her she was in fact acquitted, while a jury in the Sacramento, California United States District Court convicted her of two mail fraud charges and the three seperate witness tampering charges.
It appears that the charges against Lee have basically alleged that in 2002 she had plotted to funnel funds from the state grant money into the California Secretary of State Kevin Shelly and the Sunset District Community Center was not even developed. This all first came to light in 2004 in an article in the Chronicle that centered on the improper ethics of Lees fund raising; this sparked the investigation by the state and federal authorities. This also helped to end the former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelly´s career in politics. Shelly resigned after the Chronicle reported that out of the $500,000 in state grant money approximately $168,750 dollars of it was found in Shelly´s campaign account. Shelly has been cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with the charges filed against Lee. Additional related news and editorials may be found on the blog located at the Ra Ra Portal
September 3rd is the date set for Lee´s sentencing and the sixty-one year old faces up to seventy-odd years in prison along with fines that can go as high as over a million dollars.
In addition to this, there is also another case pending against Lee in California State Court, the county prosecutors and the state have both filed separate charges of embezzlement, forgery and grand theft.
The motive according to prosecutors was to have Shelly endorse Lee´s son in his run for San Francisco Board of Supervisors which he ultimately lost ending in fourth place. It appears as if prosecutors have really been cracking down on ethics and corruption related violations as of late.
All in all, the charges against Lee were four charges of mail fraud as well as three charges of witness tampering. It should be noted here that on two of the mail fraud charges against her she was in fact acquitted, while a jury in the Sacramento, California United States District Court convicted her of two mail fraud charges and the three seperate witness tampering charges.
It appears that the charges against Lee have basically alleged that in 2002 she had plotted to funnel funds from the state grant money into the California Secretary of State Kevin Shelly and the Sunset District Community Center was not even developed. This all first came to light in 2004 in an article in the Chronicle that centered on the improper ethics of Lees fund raising; this sparked the investigation by the state and federal authorities. This also helped to end the former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelly´s career in politics. Shelly resigned after the Chronicle reported that out of the $500,000 in state grant money approximately $168,750 dollars of it was found in Shelly´s campaign account. Shelly has been cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with the charges filed against Lee. Additional related news and editorials may be found on the blog located at the Ra Ra Portal
September 3rd is the date set for Lee´s sentencing and the sixty-one year old faces up to seventy-odd years in prison along with fines that can go as high as over a million dollars.
In addition to this, there is also another case pending against Lee in California State Court, the county prosecutors and the state have both filed separate charges of embezzlement, forgery and grand theft.
The motive according to prosecutors was to have Shelly endorse Lee´s son in his run for San Francisco Board of Supervisors which he ultimately lost ending in fourth place. It appears as if prosecutors have really been cracking down on ethics and corruption related violations as of late.
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