Wednesday News Roundup
Contractor Pleads Guiilty to 118 Counts of Bribery Involving Former SFSU Official
The owner of an environmental waste disposal firm that contracted with San Francisco State University pleaded guilty to more than 100 counts of bribing a former college official with more than $180,000 over the span of seven years, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced today.
Stephen Cheung, 49, was found guilty of 59 counts of commercial bribery and 59 counts of bribing an executive officer, district attorney’s officials said. He also admitted to an enhancement of an aggravated white-collar crime, according to the district attorney’s office.
Cheung, owner of Chemical Hazardous Materials Technology, was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, district attorney’s officials said.
He also made an initial payment of $150,000 in restitution to the university. A restitution hearing is scheduled for May 28, when the district attorney’s office will present evidence to make sure the college receives full compensation.
Cheung had bribed Robert Shearer, 70, former director of the university’s Environmental Health and Occupational Safety Department, between 2002 and 2009, according to the district attorney’s office.
Cheung gave Shearer $180,000 in payments and gifts including a 1999 Volvo and trips to China and Singapore, prosecutors said.
In exchange, Shearer allegedly used at least $4 million in university money to pay Cheung and renewed annually the waste disposal firm’s contract with the university, according to prosecutors.
Shearer was charged with 59 felony counts commercial bribery, 59 felony counts of accepting a bribe, five felony counts of making a contract with a financially interested person and five felony counts of perjury with an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement, prosecutors said.
He also allegedly did not report the money he received from Cheung in a Statement of Economic Interests filed with SFSU, according to the district attorney’s office.
Shearer was employed at SFSU from February 1994 to April 2009, university officials said.
Shearer’s next scheduled court appearance is on April 22.
F.B.I., SFPD Seek Suspect in Three Recent Bank Robberies
The FBI and San Francisco police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect in three recent bank robberies that occurred in the city in the last two weeks.
The first robbery occurred March 30 at a U.S. Bank location at 4610 Mission St. Last Thursday, the same suspect allegedly robbed a Citibank at 260 California St. and on Tuesday, he allegedly robbed a Bank of America at 3701 Balboa St., according to the FBI.
The suspect, dubbed the “Clean Cut Bandit” by the FBI, is described as a black man in his 30s or 40s with an athletic build, standing roughly 6 foot 2 inches or 6 foot 3 inches tall. He was wearing polo shirts in all three robberies and brandished a knife in two of the incidents.
Investigators believe he may also have tattoos on both arms.
The suspect is considered armed and dangerous, and an unspecified reward is available for information that leads to his identification or arrest.
Anyone with information about the suspect’s identity is asked to contact the FBI at (415) 553-7400. Tips can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.
Female Suspects Use Stun Gun To Rob Occupants In Tenderloin
Four female suspects pulled a man and woman out of a car while they were stopped at a red light and then robbed and assaulted them, including with a stun gun, in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood early Tuesday morning, police said.
At about 2 a.m. Tuesday, the victims, both 29 years old, were stopped at a red light on Turk Street at Taylor Street with their windows rolled down, according to police.
Four female suspects walked up to their car and pulled both victims out. The suspects then kicked and punched the man and the woman, police said.
One of the suspects used a stun gun to incapacitate one of the victims, striking them on the back and shoulder, then took their cellphones and a laptop, police said.
Police said the suspects fled and have not yet been located as of this morning.
The victims complained of pain but their injuries were not considered life-threatening, according to police.
