A political corruption case involving former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has gone to the jury in federal court in Sacramento.

Julie Lee, a longtime San Francisco political activist and fund-raiser, is on trial over charges that she funneled public dollars for her nonprofit group into campaign donations for Shelley.

The charges of mail fraud and attempted witness tampering are from a 2005 indictment. According to the indictment, Lee asked two Chinese men to make a total of $125,000 in donations in 2000 and 2001 to Shelley's re-election campaign after her nonprofit group did business with them.

Lee's San Francisco-based neighborhood nonprofit group had received a $500,000 state grant during that time through efforts by Shelley, who was then an assemblyman. He was elected Secretary of State in 2002.

Shelley, once considered a rising star in Democratic state politics, resigned in early 2005 after the scandal became public. He was exonerated of any charges in the case and has not been charged with any crime.

Lee resigned from a position on the San Francisco Housing Authority after the indictment. If convicted, she could face sentences of 20 years on each of four mail fraud counts and 10 years on each of three counts of witness tampering.

Lee also faces related charges in San Francisco, where she has yet to stand trial. Her defense attorneys have argued that the payments were legitimate campaign contributions.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys made closing arguments in the case Thursday.