A few years back, Leland Yee was a California state Senator who was on a personal crusade against videogames, particularly violent ones, targeting videogames instead of gun control laws in the aftermath of the tragic Sandy Hook shootings. He’s just been sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to racketeering charges last July.
Yee believed violent videogames were a matter of public health, and at one point he tried to draft a bill that prevented the sale or rental of violent videogames to minors, only for the Supreme Court to rule it unconstitutional.
In an interview with SFGate, Yee once said on the matter: “Gamers have got to just quiet down. Gamers have no credibility in this argument. This is all about their lust for violence and the industry’s lust for money. This is a billion-dollar industry. This is about their self-interest.”
In court, Yee admitted to seven counts of racketeering, for which he received nearly $35,000 in payments.
Before sentencing Yee to five years, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said: “I don’t feel I can be lenient. The crimes you have committed were essentially an attack on a democratic institution.”
Thanks, CBS San Francisco.