Five get prison in Las Vegas home invasion scheme
Emotions ran high in federal court Thursday as five members of a Korean organized crime ring arrested in a home invasion sting were sentenced to stiff prison terms.
U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro told each defendant that she had shed tears preparing for their sentencings because she felt they all were drawn into the home invasion scheme by "elders" in the Southern California Korean community.
Most of the defendants, who live in the Los Angeles area, are in their 20s, and all but one apologized to the judge and their families for going astray of the law. One defendant wiped away tears, as the judge read letters of support from his family and friends.
Navarro said she wanted to "wring the necks" of the uncharged elders for bringing dishonor to the Korean community and other immigrant communities.
She said that the sentencings drew more emotions out of her because her parents were immigrants.
All five defendants pleaded guilty earlier this year to staging what they thought was a home invasion of a Las Vegas stash house hiding 30 kilos of cocaine.
They were arrested before they could carry out the robbery, which was set up by undercover FBI agents working with the Metropolitan Police Department and Southern California law enforcement agencies. The scheme was the group’s first stab at pulling off home invasions in Las Vegas.
Navarro said she found it "completely disgraceful" that the Korean community elders, according to the government, expected to receive half of the cocaine stash.
"It makes me sick to my stomach," she said.
The judge told the defendants she had empathy for them and was saddened to see them "mixed up" in this case.
But she, nevertheless, sentenced each of them to the maximum time in prison under the federal sentencing guidelines to call attention to the seriousness of the "heinous" and "sophisticated" crime and to discourage others from carrying out home invasions.
The defendants were prepared to use stun guns in the stash house robbery and brought SWAT uniforms and BB guns that resembled real revolvers to further scare their intended victims, prosecutors said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson told Navarro that home invasions, especially those targeting wealthy homeowners, were becoming a "blight on the community."
He urged the judge to hand out tough sentences to send a message that these crimes "will be punished severely."
Navarro sentenced James Arum Han, 28, the ringleader of the group, to 71 months in prison, the term Johnson had recommended, for his guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit robbery affecting commerce.
"I’d just like to apologize for my actions," Han told the judge before he was sentenced.
His lawyer, Gary Harrison, said Han didn’t have a bad heart.
"He just seems like a boy who got himself into a bad situation," Harrison said.
Han choked up as Navarro read a string of letters from family members supporting him, including one from his sister describing his tough life growing up. His family members in the gallery also wept.
Navarro sentenced two other defendants who acknowledged playing a leadership role in the scheme — Rene Antwan Hypolite, 27, and David Chon, 29 — to 57 months behind bars each on the same charge.
The three men also admitted to robbing a couple in a violent home invasion in Diamond Bar, Calif., in November, Johnson said. The husband in the home was stung with a Taser, and his wife was tied up coming out of the shower.
"That couple is traumatized forever," Johnson said.
He said the robbers were looking for $300,000 in cash, but didn’t find it. Instead, they stole valuable jewelry.
Hypolite also apologized, saying, "I realize I made a very stupid mistake."
His lawyer, Randall Roske, said Hypolite has had "lots of adversity in his life," including being shot in the calf on the street. Hypolite lost his job over the shooting and suffers from a methamphetamine addiction, Roske said.
Chon told Navarro, "I’m sorry for what I’ve done." He promised to turn his life around when he gets out of prison.
He said he participated in the Las Vegas home invasion scheme because his family had fallen on hard economic times, and he wanted to help his mother.
Navarro sentenced two other defendants in the Las Vegas sting — Howard Suh, 25, and Kyung Hoon Han, 34 — to 51 months in prison each for their lesser roles.
All five defendants were arrested at the Rio in January after the monthlong sting dubbed Vegas Hold’em.
The undercover investigation led to the arrests of three more Southern California men suspected of committing home invasions there, including the one in Diamond Bar.
Thursday’s sentencings bring an end to the case, but federal authorities plan to pursue charges against others in the Las Vegas scheme if additional evidence surfaces.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
