UPDATE 11:58 a.m.
(AP) - An ex-California state senator has pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in an organized crime and public corruption case centered in San Francisco's Chinatown.
Leland Yee entered the plea on Wednesday and could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in October.
The FBI arrested Yee and 19 others in 2014 during a series of raids, one of which targeted a Chinese fraternal organization.
Yee was accused of soliciting and accepting bribes in exchange for providing help from Sacramento.
The FBI also alleged that the San Francisco Democrat, who was running for secretary of state at the time, conspired to connect an undercover agent with an international arms dealer in exchange for campaign contributions.
Yee previously pleaded not guilty to bribery, money laundering and other felony charges.
(AP) - A former California state senator who is accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from an alleged San Francisco Chinatown gang leader appears to have reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Leland Yee has pleaded not guilty to bribery, money laundering and other charges and was scheduled to go on trial in late July along with three co-defendants. But a judge has scheduled change-of-plea hearings for the four on Wednesday.
Anthony Simmons, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, says such hearings typically involve defendants changing their pleas from not guilty to something else, but he would not provide details of a possible deal or what the hearing would mean for Yee.
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