Rick Sung, the former second-in-command of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, pleaded guilty Monday to two felony bribery charges after prosecutors accused him of trading concealed-carry weapon permits for Apple iPads and San Jose Sharks tickets. The plea closes out a case that began with a 2020 grand jury indictment and survived a mistrial last year, bringing to an end what the district attorney's office called an eight-year investigation into corruption inside the sheriff's office.
Sung admitted asking for Apple iPads and San Jose Sharks tickets in exchange for concealed-carry licenses, according to Palo Alto Online. He had served as second-in-command to former Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, who resigned in 2022, and the grand jury indicted him in 2020 on accusations that he held up the distribution of concealed-carry licenses until applicants provided something of value.
iPads, a Canceled Donation and a Search Warrant
Prosecutors alleged that Sung and former sheriff's office captain James Jensen withheld four gun licenses from Apple employees until Apple's chief security officer, Thomas Moyer, arranged for a donation of 200 iPads worth almost $70,000. That donation was called off at the last minute, the outlet's report notes, after Sung and Moyer learned the district attorney's office had issued a search warrant in 2019 concerning concealed-carry license records.
Around the same time, according to the same account, Harpreet Chadha allegedly offered $6,000 worth of Sharks box-seat tickets for a Valentine's Day 2019 game, intending them to go to Smith and her guests. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said some of the alleged bribery money was funneled into Smith's 2018 reelection campaign, and that Sung and others treated the licenses as commodities, finding willing buyers among applicants.
Acquittals, a Mistrial and a Conviction
Acquittals, a Mistrial and a Conviction The case did not produce uniform outcomes. Moyer was acquitted in 2025 of accusations that he offered bribes to sheriff's office executives, while reports differed on Chadha's disposition: Palo Alto Online said he was acquitted in 2025, while The Mercury News reported prosecutors moved to dismiss a connected charge on September 21, 2026. Sung's own first trial ended in a mistrial that same year. Jensen, the former captain, was convicted by a jury in 2024 and sentenced to 10 months in jail, making Sung's guilty plea the case's clearest resolution against the office's former command staff.
Accounts differ on the length of Sung's probation. Palo Alto Online reported a six-month probation term with no jail time, after which the court will set aside the plea and dismiss both cases once he completes probation and community service. But The Mercury News reported that Sung's plea agreement calls for two years of probation. Both accounts agree that Sung must permanently surrender his peace officer certification and complete 400 hours of community service.
A Scarce, Coveted Permit
A Scarce, Coveted Permit The scheme centered on a scarce permit. Between 2014 and 2019, only about 150 concealed-carry permits were issued or renewed in Santa Clara County, according to a separate Mercury News report, compared with more than 5,000 active permits in Sacramento County during the same stretch — a scarcity that prosecutors say made the licenses valuable enough to bribe for. That earlier case also detailed how Christian West, the former CEO of security firm AS Solution, pleaded guilty in 2020 to two conspiracy counts under an agreement that downgraded the charges to misdemeanors and carried a maximum 18-month jail sentence.
San Jose Inside has described the broader matter as a years-long pay-to-play scheme in which the sheriff's office, under Smith, allegedly traded concealed-carry weapon permits for political donations, favors and other in-kind support. That outlet also reported that the investigation led to related convictions and to changes in how the sheriff's office now handles concealed-firearms permits.
A Legal Landscape That Has Since Shifted
A Legal Landscape That Has Since Shifted The rules governing who can carry a concealed weapon have changed dramatically since the alleged bribery took place. The U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Bruen ruling outlawed the kind of “good cause” tests that once let sheriffs restrict permits so tightly, curtailing that discretion. The district attorney's office said Sung's guilty plea puts an end to the eight-year-long investigation into corruption in the sheriff's office, closing a chapter that began under a licensing system with greater sheriff discretion.
