Alderman pleads not guilty to perjury in 49ers report leak.

A Silicon Valley city council member accused of leaking a secret grand jury report criticizing the San Francisco 49ers’ enormous political clout pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Santa Clara City Councilman Anthony Becker is charged with one felony count of perjury and a misdemeanor of willful dereliction of duty.

he had refused entry When he appeared in court for the first time last month, he said he wanted to find an attorney other than his appointed public defender, Christopher Montoya.

Becker was still being defended by Montoya when he pleaded not guilty Wednesday, the Bay Area News Group reported.

“First impressions of cases are often wrong or incomplete,” Montoya told reporters.

Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinski said after the hearing that the victims were the community.

Becker, whose next trial date is August 2, indicted If you are convicted of perjury, you will be sentenced to four years in the county jail.

He has been accused of lying to a grand jury by providing confidential reports to former top spokespersons for NFL teams and local news outlets days before their official release. The report, titled Santa Clara City Council, claimed that city council members regularly voted “in a manner that favors the 49ers.”

The 49ers play at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, about 35 miles south of San Francisco. Santa Clara owns the stadium and leases it to teams, and the two have been at odds over the years through ethical complaints and legal disputes.

Santa Clara County prosecutors said Becker won the 2020 city council election and last year’s mayoral candidacy by spending at least $3.2 million through an independent spending committee to ensure the football team had enough money. It said it funded Becker’s political career.