Former Santa Clara Official Sentenced to Probation, Public Service for Perjury Conviction

Former Santa Clara City Councilmember Anthony Becker will not face any time behind bars after being convicted of perjury in December.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Javier Alcala sentenced Becker to two years of probation and 40 days of jail time, but allowed Becker to serve that time through a work service program.

The sentence appeared to be a midway point between the polarized requests from prosecutors — who asked that Becker face a “significant” jail sentence — and Becker’s attorneys, who asked that he only be sentenced to probation, with no additional punishment.

“There has to be some kind of punishment, otherwise people in the community are not going to think that their elected officials are going to be held accountable,” Alcala said in the court.

Becker and his lead attorney, Deputy Public Defender Christopher Montoya, declined to comment after the sentencing, other than to say they would appeal the decision.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said he thought the sentence was “appropriate” in comments he made outside the courthouse.

“What we were asking for was a significant jail sentence. The judge gave a jail sentence and allowed Mr. Becker to serve it on weekend work, and that’s within the discretion of the court,” Rosen said.

Becker was convicted of a misdemeanor for violating his duty as an elected official to keep a civil grand jury report confidential (PDF) until its public release and with felony perjury for lying to a grand jury about his actions.

Becker announced his resignation one day after his conviction in a Morgan Hill courtroom, just weeks before his first term in office was set to expire. He did not win a second term in the 2024 election.

The 2022 civil grand jury report at the center of the case, titled Unsportsmanlike Conduct, accused Becker and four other council members of having unethical and inappropriately close relationships with top lobbyists and officials from the San Francisco 49ers.

The team’s ownership has spent millions of dollars over the past three election cycles to support some candidates, including Becker, and oppose others, including Mayor Lisa Gillmor, who has butted heads with the team over a host of issues related to the management of publicly owned Levi’s Stadium, where the 49ers play their home games.

Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky, the lead prosecutor on the case, wrote in a pre-sentencing memo in January that Becker deserves “a significant jail sentence that reflects the seriousness of his crimes.”

Malinsky based his recommendation on what he called the “aggravated” and “self-serving” nature of Becker’s crimes, which he said eroded public trust in government and elected officials. He also disagreed with a recommendation from the county’s probation department that suggested no jail time should be levied and stated Becker’s level of remorse was “unknown.”

“Becker has shown no remorse for his crimes despite ample opportunity and a public forum to do so,” Malinsky wrote, noting that Becker said the verdict was politically motivated and felt that justice was not served.

“These are not the words of a remorseful man who has learned the lesson from his actions and intends to put himself on a path of reconciliation and reform,” Malinsky wrote.

During the sentencing hearing on Friday, Becker made a statement to the court in which he apologized to the residents of Santa Clara for the “ordeal.”

“I want to first apologize to the people of Santa Clara for this long ordeal. And additionally, I want to respect what the jury’s decision was, despite my other disagreements. I respect the jury’s decision. I respect this court. And I just want that to be known,” Becker said.

Alcala said Becker’s statement helped guide his decision on the sentence.

“I was hoping to hear an apology, which I did hear. I am going to let you serve that sentence in an alternative way other than sitting in a jail. If you hadn’t apologized, you would have been remanded today,” Alcala said.

Deputy Public Defender Christopher Montoya, one of Becker’s attorneys, noted in his pre-sentencing memo that the court could meet its objectives of “protecting society, punishing the defendant, and deterring others from criminal conduct by demonstrating its consequences” by sentencing Becker to probation only.

“Mr. Becker is now a convicted felon. Society garners no further protection by imposing

a jail sentence on Mr. Becker,” Montoya wrote. “Becker’s conduct did not subject anyone to physical violence, deprive anyone of a loved one, deprive anyone of their property, or deprive anyone of large amounts of money.”

He also took issue with what he characterized as the prosecution’s unwillingness to “make an offer to resolve the matter” ahead of the trial through a plea deal.

Montoya emphasized that Becker had no prior record and was allowed to be under his own supervision while the trial proceeded because he was not a danger to anyone else. The memo also highlighted Becker’s personal struggles, some due to the “collateral consequences” of his conviction, including permanent damage to his reputation, the loss of his political career and the loss of his income.

“Additional punitive punishment of time in jail is not warranted or necessary, is disproportionate to the underlying conduct, and is a departure from efforts to achieve uniformity in sentencing,” Montoya wrote. “A jail sentence will only serve to set Mr. Becker back and, more significantly, deprive him of caring for his mother who is currently very sick and undergoing treatment for a stage 3 cancer diagnosis.”

Several family members, friends and former colleagues of Becker’s wrote letters to Alcala asserting that they know Becker to be “of high moral character,” as well as an “honest and very kind and caring person” and a “good person who made a bad decision.”

During the court hearing, Santa Clara Councilmembers Suds Jain and Kevin Park spoke in support of leniency for Becker.

Jain called Becker, his friend, and said he admired his commitment to the job of being a council member who worked hard to stay well-informed.

“I consider him to be a very dedicated public servant,” Jain said.

Without naming any specific people, Park claimed Becker has been “under attack” for a long time and has faced a lot of harassment ever since running for office in Santa Clara.

“He is one of the hardest working people I know. He wanted to do this job, he wanted to do this as legitimately as possible,” Park said.

After the hearing on Friday, Rosen said the case boiled down to what people should and do expect from their elected officials and said that those who take oaths of office and then abuse that power “mock” their communities.

“Government officials should be role models for all citizens to respect and follow the law,” he said. “If public officials do not respect and follow the law, who will?”