After an almost two-year authorized battle that rocked the Santa Clara group, Anthony Becker, the previous vice mayor who resigned in December following his perjury conviction, was sentenced to 40 days in county jail that he’ll serve nonconsecutively on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Choose Javier Alcala introduced the choice Friday morning in Santa Clara County Superior Courtroom in Morgan Hill following an apology from Becker — the primary time he’s mentioned so publicly — “to the people of Santa Clara for this long ordeal.”
Santa Clara Metropolis Councilmembers Kevin Park and Suds Jain additionally made pleas to the choose, asking for leniency for a buddy they described as hard-working and a “dedicated public servant.”
Santa Clara County District Legal professional Jeff Rosen and Deputy District Legal professional Jason Malinsky requested Alcala for “significant jail time” in a January memo to the choose. The prosecutors argued that the ex-Santa Clara official “has shown no remorse,” citing a report that mentioned Becker instructed his probation officer that he felt his conviction was “about politics” and that “justice was not served.” However the county’s probation division, and one in every of Becker’s lawyer — deputy public defender Chris Montoya — requested that he obtain solely probation.
Alcala’s resolution comes almost two years after Becker’s April 2023 indictment on expenses associated to him leaking a bombshell Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report in regards to the San Francisco 49ers’ affect on the town of Santa Clara after which mendacity about it below oath. His highly-anticipated trial started the day after Election Day final yr, by which Becker’s failed reelection bid resulted in him falling to final in a three-way race for his District 6 council seat.
The prosecution known as greater than a dozen witnesses over the course of a number of weeks, whereas the protection known as none and Becker declined to take the stand. On Dec. 5, after only some hours of deliberation, the jury returned to the courtroom with their verdict, discovering Becker responsible of violating his obligation as a authorities official after which later perjuring himself in entrance of a grand jury investigating the supply of the leak.
The report on the middle of Becker’s trial was “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” — a 2022 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report that was set to be launched just a few weeks forward of Election Day. On the time, Becker was difficult Mayor Lisa Gillmor for her seat.
However the report, which despatched shockwaves by way of Santa Clara, was leaked a number of days earlier than it was imagined to be made public. The 49ers had been spending closely on the 2022 mayoral election, and shelled out greater than $1.4 million attempting to get Becker elected and one other roughly $1 million attacking Gillmor.
The NFL staff known as the report a “hatchet job,” and it was revealed at trial that the 49ers investigated whether or not any of the jurors who authored the report had been biased.
The prosecution relied closely on its star witness: Rahul Chandhok, the 49ers’ former chief of communications. Chandhok, who now works for the USA Soccer Federation, testified that Becker leaked him the report.
All through the trial, Becker’s attorneys fought to solid doubt within the minds of the jury and argued that he wasn’t the one one who had entry to the report earlier than it was public.
