A progressive California state senator who promoted legislation to keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens has pleaded guilty to racketeering.

Ex-state Sen. Leland Yee had been accused by the FBI of conspiring to bring weapons and ammunition into the U.S. from “Islamic rebels in the Philippines.”

The Democrat Herald reports:

The FBI arrested Yee and 19 others in 2014 during a series of raids, one of which targeted a Chinese fraternal organization, the Ghee Kung Tong. Yee was accused of soliciting and accepting bribes in exchange for providing help from Sacramento.

The FBI also alleged that Yee, a San Francisco Democrat who was running for secretary of state at the time, conspired to import weapons and ammunition into the U.S.

As part of his plea agreement, Yee acknowledged accepting $11,000 in exchange for setting up a meeting with another state senator, $10,000 for recommending someone for a grant, and $6,800 for providing a certificate on California State Senate letterhead honoring the Ghee Kung Tong.

He also acknowledged that he discussed helping an undercover FBI agent buy automatic weapons from the Philippines that were intended to be brought to the U.S. for distribution.

With the guilty plea, the San Francisco pol could face 20 years in prison.

“It’s a big charge he’s pleading guilty to with a lot of exposure, a lot of splash in the headlines,” former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson says. “I don’t think this is a sellout in any way by the prosecution.”

In 2014, CNN reported Yee had conspired with federal agents to broker “what he was told was a $2 million arms deal that would include the purchase of shoulder-fired missiles from Islamic rebels in the Philippines.”

“Do I think we can make some money? I think we can make some money,” Yee reportedly told the agent. “Do I think we can get the goods? I think we can get the goods.”

The Huffington Post called Yee one of California’s “strongest advocates for gun control.”

In 2012, he introduced legislation to slow the speed of bullet reloading.

“While most gun owners are law-abiding, it is a fact that such weapons are more likely to be used to kill an innocent person than used in self-defense,” Yee said at the time. “One only needs to look at England, Japan, and other nations with strict gun access to see that these types of gun control laws are effective in preventing gun-related homicides.”

He didn’t speculate as to the damage a shoulder-fired missile could cause.