A former captain with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office has been convicted on felony charges of bribery and conspiracy, as per a jury verdict handed down yesterday. James Jensen, 47, was enveloped in a scheme where he brokered the sale of concealed firearms permits in exchange for sizable donations to political campaigns, as reported by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Jensen's negotiations with AS Solution, Inc., an international security firm, agreed upon a $90,000 price tag for procuring CCW licenses for the company’s executive protection agents. While Jensen has been found guilty, Harpaul Nahal, 42, walked free after being acquitted of both charges. The court has scheduled Jensen's sentencing for September 9, where he faces the possibility of a four-year term in state prison.
The conviction of Jensen marks the fifth in a series of related outcomes stemming from the 2018 and 2019 inquiries into the Sheriff’s Office's CCW license issuance processes. With plans to continue, there are still two pending cases that include other bribery accusations and defendants like former Undersheriff Rick Sung, Apple’s head of global security, Thomas Moyer, and insurance broker Harpreet Chadha.
"Government services, including the issuance of gun permits, are not for sale in Santa Clara County," District Attorney Jeff Rosen was quoted, per the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, "I’m grateful to the jurors who once again have shown that we are a community that deeply values integrity, fairness, and accountability." Substantial testimony during the trial revealed a startling preference for AS Solution’s applications, wherein nearly all public applications for first-time CCW licenses submitted over two years were shunned. Jensen was instrumental in advancing four such applications before the DA's Office initiated their crackdown with a search warrant on August 2, 2019.
While former Sheriff Laurie Smith was implicated in the scandal, she was not criminally charged. Her resignation came in 2022, preceding a guilt verdict in an attempt to oust her from office—using evidence chiefly gathered during the DA’s Office investigation.
