SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge has sentenced former California state senator Leland Yee to five years in prison after he acknowledged in a plea deal that he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes and discussed helping an undercover FBI agent buy automatic weapons from the Philippines.

 

Senior District Court Judge Charles Breyer imposed the sentence on Wednesday after the 67-year-old Yee pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering.

 

 Yee's attorneys had called for no more than five years and three months behind bars, saying Yee had a history of public service and his wife was ill. Prosecutors recommended an eight-year sentence, saying that would reflect the extent of Yee's crimes.

 

 Yee was charged in a wide-ranging probe of organized crime in San Francisco's Chinatown that led to charges against more than two dozen people. He has remained free while awaiting sentencing.