Former Santa Clara County Undersheriff Rick Sung was convicted Sept. 21 of two felony bribery charges stemming from a long-running investigation into the sheriff’s office’s issuance of concealed weapons permits.
The negotiated plea, announced by the District Attorney’s Office, requires Sung to permanently surrender his California peace officer certification and complete 400 hours of community service. He will not serve time in custody.
Sung worked for the local sheriff’s office for nearly 20 years. At the end of his career, he was second in command to former Sheriff Laurie Smith.
The charges involved allegations that Sung used the sheriff’s office’s rarely issued concealed-carry weapons (CCW) permits as leverage to obtain benefits for the agency, Smith and her guests.
Authorities began investigating the case in 2019, and Smith resigned as sheriff in 2022.
Prosecutors had characterized the scandal as a years-long scheme in which the sheriff’s office, under Smith, allegedly traded CCW permits for political donations, favors and other in-kind support.
One charge against Sung involved the alleged promise of 200 iPads from Apple to the sheriff’s office, according to the DAs office. The other concerned a luxury suite and tickets at SAP Center, home of the San Jose Sharks, that prosecutors said were promised to Smith and her guests by local businessman Harpreet Chadha.
The DA’s Office added that Sung had illegally bribed several executive protection security agents employed by Apple, and Chadha, a local businessman, before issuing CCW permits to them.
At the same hearing on Monday, a bribery charge against Chadha, who held the license for the luxury suite, was dismissed, authorities said.
Sung’s guilty pleas came as he approached a retrial. A previous trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial.
His attorneys, Naomi Chung and Tamara Crepet, said Sung entered the plea under an agreement that calls for six months of probation and community service, after which the court will set aside the plea and dismiss the two cases.
Sung’s attorneys maintained that the prosecution was politically motivated and unfair. His attorneys also argued that Sung did not have the authority under California law to issue CCW permits, which they said rested with the sheriff.
Prosecutors have maintained that Sung participated in efforts to trade access to the permits for donations and other benefits.
The case grew out of a DA’s investigation that began after the 2018 election. Authorities received a tip about an unusually large campaign contribution to an independent expenditure committee supporting Smith’s reelection.
The investigation eventually produced criminal cases involving several sheriff’s office employees and people connected to an executive protection company. In 2020, Sung was indicted along with former Sheriff’s Capt. James Jensen, Apple security executive Thomas Moyer and Chadha in connection with alleged bribery involving CCW permits.
In a related case, Jensen was convicted by a Superior Court jury in July 2024 of felony bribery and conspiracy. Prosecutors said he participated in a scheme involving as much as $90,000 from AS Solution in exchange for concealed-weapons licenses for the company’s executive protection agents.
The case was part of a broader investigation that resulted in multiple convictions and guilty pleas.
According to the DA’s Office, the investigation also contributed to the eventual removal of Smith. A civil grand jury pursued an action against the longtime sheriff after criminal grand jury indictments were issued in 2020. Smith resigned in 2022, shortly before she was found guilty in the civil proceeding and formally removed from office. She was never criminally charged in the bribery investigation.
The investigation began after a search warrant was served on the sheriff’s office in August 2019, according to previous reporting. Prosecutors alleged that AS Solution had agreed to make payments in exchange for CCW permits, with an initial $45,000 contribution going to an independent expenditure committee supporting Smith’s reelection.
By 2024, at least five people had been convicted as a result of the CCW investigation.
DA Jeff Rosen said the Sung case concludes an eight-year series of corruption prosecutions initiated by his office.
“My office enforces the law without fear or favor,” Rosen said. “Law enforcement in Santa Clara County must be equally determined to be incorruptible as it is determined to protect our community.”
Sung’s attorneys said their client dedicated 20 years to the sheriff’s office and that the negotiated resolution brings closure to the case for him and his family.
“We are proud to have stood by him,” the attorneys said in a statement. “This resolution brings long-overdue closure to Rick Sung and his family, and we look forward to him moving on to the next chapter of his life.”
