Former Supervisor Ed Jew scores reduced sentence

Former Supervisor Ed Jew was back in court today, ostensibly to turn himself in, but his sentence was modified instead and he will be back in court to surrender to authorities next week, Assistant District Attorney Alex Bastian said.

Jew, who was to begin a yearlong sentence in County Jail for a perjury charge, had his sentence reduced by the judge to 60 days in jail and the rest to be carried out in community service and home detention. He can be released in 30 days for good behavior.

The judge also granted Jew another week of freedom before he has to turn himself in next Thursday, April 10.

Jew, who served more than five years in federal prison for extortion, mail fraud and bribery charges, appeared in San Francisco Superior Court on March 21 in an attempt to avoid County Jail time for a local perjury charge. That motion was rejected at the time.

During the proceedings today, Judge Kay Tsenin said she thinks Jew owes something to the people of San Francisco and that being behind bars wouldn't help the community, thus granting him community service. She said that his short time in jail would still serve as a "dose of punishment."

Prosecutors objected to the reduced sentence, saying that Jew's repeated appearances in court to renegotiate a new sentence was like a crime movie where the villain keeps coming back.

Jew's attorney said he was pleased the majority of the sentence would be in community service and that Jew would be working with the Asian American community helping the elderly and young children.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

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