Sheriff’s captain indicted by grand jury in gun permit schem

[jdege]

https://padailypost.com/2020/08/07/sheriffs-captain-2-lawyers-gun-company-indicted-by-grand-jury/
Sheriff’s captain, 2 lawyers, businessman indicted by grand jury in alleged gun permit scheme

A Santa Clara County grand jury has indicted a county sheriff’s captain, two local lawyers and the owner of a gun parts manufacturer in an alleged scheme by the Sheriff’s Office to hand out concealed gun permits to political donors, District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced this morning.

May-issue is inherently corrupt.

[jdege]

More ...

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/06/da-to-reveal-results-of-sheriff-corruption-probe-into-concealed-gun-permits/

Four indicted in Santa Clara County Sheriff concealed gun permit scandal
Captain, reelection committee officer, two others charged with conspiracy and bribery; Sheriff Laurie Smith and security firm that got permits were not indicted, but DA says ‘we’re not done’

The indictment marks the first criminal case to come out of a decade’s worth of complaints regarding political favoritism in Smith’s issuing of the hard-to-get concealed-carry permits. Rosen said Friday that an 18-month investigation uncovered a two-tiered policy for the concealed gun permits: a process for regular citizens whose applications were destined for a filing cabinet, and another for VIPs whose applications were fast-tracked for approval.

“My office’s concern is not whether the sheriff grants many or few CCW licenses, but whether they are being granted or denied for the wrong reasons,” Rosen said. “CCW licenses should not be given out in exchange for campaign donations. They should not be for sale.”

They're not even trying to be discreet:

According to the indictment, Nichols contacted Nahal in April 2018 to set up a meeting with Nielsen, who Nichols described as a “buddy,” to help Nielsen secure CCW permits for his company’s executive protection agents, who protected high-profile figures like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Nichols allegedly texted Nahal, “it’s a potential $50K.”

That led to a meeting between Nielsen, West, Nichols, Nahal and Schumb in May 2018, and led to Nielsen attending a “Best of the West” police skills competition hosted by the sheriff’s office. At that event, prosecutors say Nichols introduced Nielsen to Jensen, and they “agreed in principle” to exchange political donations for concealed-carry permits.

Over the next month, a group of executive protection agents were directed by AS Solution manager Jack Stromgren to list false employers and addresses to fulfill legal requirements that county concealed-gun permits can only be issue to county residents. Nielsen gave Jensen a pile of applications at a Starbucks not far from the sheriff’s office headquarters, according to the indictment.

That October, a month before Smith’s toughest re-election vote since she took office in 1998, prosecutors say Nielsen, at the direction of Jensen, went to Schumb’s downtown San Jose law office and handed him a $45,000 check.

[Lumpy]

Gun control isn't about eliminating guns, it's about who is privileged to have them and who makes that determination.

[Rip Van Winkle]

May-issue is inherently corrupt.

Government is inherently corrupt.