Former San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew’s bid to avoid county jail time for a perjury charge was rejected today by a San Francisco Superior Court judge.
Jew, who served a five-year sentence for federal extortion, mail fraud and bribery charges, returned to court today to argue that he should not have to serve an additional one-year county jail sentence for a state charge of perjury.
His attorneys had filed a motion seeking to modify the one-year sentence, allowing it to be served concurrently with the federal prison sentence. If granted, the motion would have allowed Jew to get credit for time served and avoid further jail time.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Kay Tsenin rejected the motion, however, and Jew is now scheduled to surrender to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office in San Francisco Superior Court on April 4, according to Alex Bastian, a spokeman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney George Gascon praised the decision.
“Ed Jew’s willingness to betray the public trust knows no bounds, but today’s ruling is a stern reminder that no one is above the law,” Gascon said today in a statement. “He lied to the people, and he will serve separate time for separate crimes.”
Jew, who owned a shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown, was elected to represent the Sunset District in November of 2006. He was suspended from office by Mayor Gavin Newsom in September 2007 and resigned in January 2008.
Jew was sentenced to five years and four months in federal prison after pleading guilty in October of 2008 to three counts of mail fraud, extortion and bribery for seeking to extort more than $80,000 from small businesses that were seeking city permits.
The perjury charge came about after the FBI investigation into the bribery and extortion charges, which included searches of homes owned by Jew in Burlingame and in San Francisco, raised questions about where Jew actually lived.
He pleaded guilty in November of 2009 in San Francisco Superior Court to a separate charge of lying about his residence when he ran for office in San Francisco, after officials determined he actually lived in Burlingame.
He was sentenced to three years probation and one year in county jail in connection with that charge.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News
