Santa Clara Vice Mayor found guilty of perjury in leak of 49ers grand jury report; resigns
A member of the Santa Clara City Council who had been serving as the city's Vice Mayor was convicted of perjury after prosecutors said he lied about leaking a grand jury report to a San Francisco 49ers executive.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen's office announced Thursday that a jury found 39-year-old Anthony Becker guilty of lying to the county's Civil Grand Jury. Elected to the council in 2020, Becker lost his re-election bid in November and his term expires later this month. However, he resigned on Friday, the day after the guilty verdict.
"Some may have grown used to public officials lying," Rosen said in a statement. "Committing perjury to the civil grand jury is not a white lie, an exaggeration, or politics. It is a crime and a serious abuse of the public trust."
According to prosecutors, the grand jury compiled a report entitled "Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Santa Clara City Council" in 2022, which concluded that there was an unethical relationship between Becker and other councilmembers and the football team, which plays its home games at Levi's Stadium.
After the city was provided with a confidential draft copy of the report several days before its intended release on Oct. 10, 2022, news outlets revealed details from the report. The grand jury launched an investigation into the source of the leak.
Prosecutors said Becker leaked the report to Rahul Chandhok, who was serving as the 49ers chief communications and public affairs officer at the time. Becker had also leaked the report to what was described as a "small, local media outlet."
According to prosecutors, Becker denied to the civil grand jury that he leaked the report, while Chandhok later testified that Becker sent him the report prior to the intended release date.
The DA's office said the team had provided more than $3.2 million through independent expenditure committees to benefit Becker's successful campaign for city council in 2020 and his failed bid for mayor two years later.
Becker faces a maximum sentence of four years in county jail, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 31, 2025.
