U.S. v. Wong
| Decision Date | 08 November 1994 |
| Docket Number | D,Nos. 105-112 and 167,s. 105-112 and 167 |
| Citation | 40 F.3d 1347 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Alex WONG, Roger Kwok, Chen I. Chung, Tung Tran, Danny Ngo, Brian Chan, Joseph Wang, Chiang T. Cheng, and Steven Ng, Defendants-Appellants. ockets 92-1602, 92-1640, 92-1647 to 92-1652 and 92-1701. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Lloyd Epstein, New York City (Epstein & Weil, of counsel), for defendant-appellant Alex Wong.
Alan Drezin, Brooklyn, NY, for defendant-appellant Roger Kwok.
Michael Handwerker, New York City, for defendant-appellant Chen I. Chung.
Susan G. Kellman, New York City, for defendant-appellant Tung Tran.
Gerald Bodell, New York City, for defendant-appellant Danny Ngo.
Gail E. Laser, New York City (Shargel & Futerfas, of counsel), for defendant-appellant Brian Chan.
David A. Lewis, New York City (The Legal Aid Society, Federal Defender Services Unit, of counsel), for defendant-appellant Joseph Wang.
Charles Lavine, Forest Hills, NY, for defendant-appellant Chiang T. Cheng.
Joel Cohen, New York City, for defendant-appellant Steven Ng.
Catherine E. Palmer and Loretta Lynch, Asst. U.S. Atty., E.D. N.Y., Brooklyn, NY (Zachary W. Carter, U.S. Atty., Emily Berger and Margaret Giordano, Asst. U.S. Attys., of counsel), for appellee.
Before: OAKES and MAHONEY, Circuit Judges, and MISHLER, District Judge. *
Alex Wong, Roger Kwok, Chen I. Chung, Tung Tran, Danny Ngo, Brian Chan, Joseph Wang, Chiang T. Cheng, and Steven Ng appeal from judgments of conviction entered on various dates in October and November 1992 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Reena Raggi, Judge, after a ten-week jury trial. Each of the defendants was convicted of a substantive violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") provisions of the federal criminal code, see 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1962(c) and 1963, and of RICO conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1962(d) and 1963. Each of the defendants except Alex Wong, Chiang T. Cheng, and Steven Ng was also convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit an assault with dangerous weapons to maintain or increase their positions in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(6).
In addition, Alex Wong was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5). Roger Kwok was convicted of one count of conspiracy to kidnap and commit murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5); two counts of kidnapping and murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1959(a)(1) and 2; two counts of conspiracy to commit extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951; and two counts of extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1951 and 2.
Chen I. Chung was convicted of six counts of conspiracy to commit murder (and in one count also to kidnap) to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5); five counts of murder (and, as to two counts, kidnapping) to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1959(a)(1) and 2; one count of kidnapping to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1959(a)(1) and 2; one count of conspiracy to use extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 894; one count of using extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 894 and 2; six counts of conspiracy to commit extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951; and five counts of extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1951 and 2.
Tung Tran was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit murder (and in one count also to kidnap) to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5); four counts of murder (and, as to two counts, kidnapping) to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1959(a)(1) and 2; one count of conspiracy to use extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 894; one count of using extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 894 and 2; three counts of conspiracy to commit extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951; and three counts of extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1951 and 2.
Danny Ngo was convicted of one count of conspiracy to use extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 894, and one count of using extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 894 and 2. Brian Chan was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit murder (and in one count also to kidnap) to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5); three counts of murder (and, as to two counts, kidnapping) to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1959(a)(1) and 2; one count of conspiracy to use extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 894; one count of using extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 894 and 2; two counts of conspiracy to commit extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951; and two counts of extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1951 and 2.
Joseph Wang was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5); two counts of murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1959(a)(1) and 2; one count of conspiracy to commit extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951; and one count of extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1951 and 2.
Chiang T. Cheng was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5); three counts of murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1959(a)(1) and 2; one count of conspiracy to use extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 894; and one count of using extortionate means to collect a debt in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 894 and 2.
Finally, Steven Ng was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit murder to maintain or increase his position in a RICO enterprise in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959(a)(5). The non-RICO crimes of which defendants-appellants were convicted generally correspond to the predicate acts that the jury found to have been proved under the two RICO counts, but several of the RICO predicate acts were not separately charged as substantive crimes, and one of the non-RICO counts has no counterpart among the RICO predicate acts.
Chen I. Chung, Chiang T. Cheng, and Steven Ng were acquitted of one count of murder to maintain or increase their position in a RICO enterprise. Tung Tran and Brian Chan were each acquitted of one count of kidnapping to maintain or increase their positions in a RICO enterprise.
The district court sentenced all defendants except Ngo and Ng principally to multiple concurrent terms of life imprisonment for their participation in offenses involving murder to maintain or increase their positions in a RICO enterprise. The court sentenced Ngo principally to concurrent terms of ten years imprisonment for his RICO and extortion offenses. Ng was sentenced principally to concurrent terms of 210 months imprisonment for his RICO violations and 120 months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit murder. Each defendant was also accorded a number of shorter sentences to run concurrently with the principal sentences. The district court imposed concurrent fines totalling $250,000 upon each defendant except Ng, who was fined $175,000.
We affirm the judgments of conviction and sentences except for the fines imposed in this case. We vacate the fines and remand for their reconsideration.
We provide only a general factual introduction to our opinion at this preliminary juncture. Further background facts will be detailed in connection with the issues to which they pertain during the discussion of those issues. Factual recitals are based upon trial testimony and other evidence that the jury could reasonably have credited in reaching the verdicts that it rendered, except that some factual recitals (relating to pretrial hearings) are based upon evidence that was presented only to Judge Raggi, and not to the jury.
The defendants were named in a thirty-count superseding indictment that charged them with membership in a racketeering enterprise known as the "Green Dragons." The Green Dragons was a violent gang that operated principally in the predominantly Chinese sections of Elmhurst and Flushing in Queens, New York. The members primarily extorted "protection" money from Chinese-run businesses, but also engaged in periodic armed robberies. They frequently employed violence to defend and expand their turf, assaulting, kidnapping, and murdering rival gang members, potential witnesses, and businessmen who refused to pay protection money. The gang amassed a sizeable arsenal of firearms with which to conduct its criminal activities. As the Green Dragons expanded its operations, its weekly intake of protection money increased from between $400-600 per week during the summer of 1989 to $1,500-1,700 per week in late 1990.
Kin Fei Wong founded the Green Dragons in the mid-1980's as an offshoot of another Asian gang known as the "Fook Ching," and was the overall "Dai Lo" or "Big Brother" of the gang. Because Kin Fei Wong spent much of his time out of the United States, he delegated day-to-day operational authority to senior gang members. The operational...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Corchado v. Rabideau
...witness,'" so stood out from the other participants as to suggest to the witness that the suspect was the culprit. United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1359-60 (2d Cir.1994) (quoting Jarrett v. Headley, 802 F.2d at 41). For instance, the Supreme Court has held that a lineup that unnecessari......
-
U.S. v. Childress
...Third, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits in approving of their use in some cases. See Edmond, 52 F.3d 1080; see also United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347 (2d Cir.1994); United States v. Ross, 33 F.3d 1507 (11th Cir.1994); United States v. Crockett, 979 F.2d 1204 (7th Cir.1992); United States v.......
-
Com. v. D'Amour
...not warrant suppression). In light of the long weekend and the judge's order, the delay was not unreasonable. See United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1375 (2d Cir.1994), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 870, 116 S.Ct. 190, 133 L.Ed.2d 127 (1995) (noting that weekends and holidays present a legitimat......
-
U.S. v. Gotti
...H.J. Inc., 492 U.S. at 240, 109 S.Ct. 2893; see also United States v. Simmons, 923 F.2d 934, 951 (2d Cir. 1991); United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1374 (2d Cir.1994). Additionally, "[t]wo racketeering acts that are not directly related to each other may nevertheless be related indirectly......
-
Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.
...that triggering act varies depending on what subsection of [section] 1962 the charges were based on). (194.) United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1367 (2d Cir. 1994) (holding that jurisdiction over a single RICO act can make defendant liable under substantive RICO for other predicate acts, ......
-
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
...caused by the predicate RICO violations). 182. United States v. Persico, 832 F.2d 705, 714 (2d Cir. 1987); see also United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1367 (2d Cir. 1994) (holding that jurisdiction over a single RICO act also makes the defendant liable for predicate acts that fall outside......
-
Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.
...that triggering act varies depending on what subsection of [section] 1962 the charges were based on). (195.) United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1367(2d Cir. 1994) (holding that jurisdiction over a single RICO act can make defendant liable under substantive RICO for other predicate acts, s......
-
Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.
...last predicate accrual method to find that RICO prosecution was not barred by statute of limitations). (179.) United States v. Wong, 40 F.3d 1347, 1367 (2d Cir. 1994) (holding defendant may be liable under substantive RICO for predicate acts so long as defendant committed one predicate act ......