This is a case we’ve been following for years. Check out a few posts we put up back at that other place (here, here, and here). As we pointed out more than six years ago . . .
Gun control isn’t just racist, classist, expensive, and wildly ineffective. It’s also a wonderful opportunity for some good old fashion graft.
Few places took more advantage of the opportunity to rake in cash and merchandise in exchange for coveted pre-Bruen concealed carry permits than the dedicated public servants who worked in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Laurie Smith was at the top of the stinking pay-to-play corruption mountain, raking in campaign dollars and lots of valuable, uh, gifts.
She was indicted, abruptly “resigned” was convicted of public corruption back in 2022.
Smith faced six counts of corruption and willful misconduct stemming from allegations that she sidestepped gift reporting laws and engaged in a pay-to-play scheme. She was accused of not reporting gift tickets to a Sharks hockey game and awarding concealed gun permits to friends and colleagues who donated to her reelection campaign.
But Smith wasn’t the only one who was in on the juicy action. Undersheriff Rick Sung made sure he was pulling in the payola, too. Now, four years later, he’s finally getting…a slap on the wrist.
The grand jury indicted Sung in 2020, accusing him of holding up the distribution of concealed carry licenses until applicants provided something of value. He was initially indicted on three charges for incidents dating between 2017 and 2019, and [District Attorney Jeff] Rosen said at the time that investigators found some of the bribery money was sent to Smith’s 2018 reelection campaign. …
Following the indictments in 2020, Rosen said Sung and others, including former sheriff’s office spokesperson Capt. James Jense, treated the licenses as “commodities and found willing buyers.”
Sung’s first prosecution ended in a mistrial last year. Now he’s reached a plea deal with the DA that will result in zero time spent in the graybar hotel.
Sung must permanently surrender his peace officer certification and complete 400 hours of community service, according to the district attorney’s office.
He will not spend any time behind bars, instead serving six months of probation. After his probation and community service is complete, the court will set aside the plea and dismiss both cases, his defense counsel said.
It seems the DA just wanted to make this years-long case finally go away.
According to the initial indictments, Sung and Jensen withheld four gun licenses from Apple employees until Apple’s Chief Security Officer, Thomas Moyer [who was later indicted], donated 200 iPads worth almost $70,000. The donation was canceled at the last minute after Sung and Moyer learned that the district attorney’s office had issued a search warrant in 2019 regarding the sheriff’s office’s concealed carry license records in 2019.
Sung also received a bribe from Harpreet Chadha, a local insurance broker who held the license to a luxury suite at the SAP Center where the San Jose Sharks compete, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Chadha offered $6,000 worth of box seat tickets to a Sharks game on Valentine’s Day 2019 to be donated to Smith and her guests.
Chadha was acquitted in 2025 as part of the same trial that resulted in a hung jury for Sung.
But the Sheriff was found guilty, so she’s behind bars, right? Well, no. Because she wasn’t criminally prosecuted. She only faced civil corruption charges for which the only penalties were removal from office (again, she abruptly resigned days before she was found guilty) and disqualification from holding public office again.
As they might have put it in a neo-noir movie, forget it Jake, it’s Silicon Valley.