Getty Images/Charley Gallay
Gurbaksh Chahal, former CEO of RadiumOne
Chahal originally faced 45 felony counts after prosecutors alleged that he beat his girlfriend more than 100 times in one night in August 2013. Chahal pleaded guilty in April 2014 to two misdemeanor charges and is serving three years' probation.
In emails viewed by the Wall Street Journal, Chahal reportedly offered in December 2013 to pay former San Francisco mayor and lawyer Willie Brown to make the charges go away.
Chahal reportedly said in an email to a RadiumOne board member that he met with Brown, and wrote that Brown "wants $1 million if he can make this go away." Chahal also reportedly paid Brown a $250,000 retainer, although some of that money was later returned after the judge ruled that a video of the alleged incident was inadmissible.
The 45 charges against Chahal were also of concern to RadiumOne's attorneys, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, who reportedly discussed whether the charges would need to be disclosed if the company filed for an IPO. One attorney went as far as saying San Francisco's District Attorney, George Gascon, who was prosecuting the case, "needs to be visited with some domestic violence," reported the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal's report says there's no evidence that Chahal or his representatives swayed the DA's office, and Gascon denied all knowledge of the emails. The Journal said the emails were part of a brief prepared by Chahal's lawyer for an outside mediator as part of a legal settlement with RadiumOne after his firing.
Chahal's drama didn't stop after his guilty plea. He went on to found a competing ad tech company, Gravity4, and was arrested in October 2014 after allegedly kicking a new girlfriend in a different incident. The San Francisco District Attorney's Office filed a motion to revoke his probation after the alleged incident, but did not file formal charges. The motion to revoke probation will be heard on Friday before a judge in San Francisco.
We contacted Chahal and his current and former companies, Brown, the law firm Wilson Sonsini, the lawyer who reportedly sent the "domestic violence" email, and Gascon. None responded. If they do, we'll update this post.