Shrimp Boy and the Senator

[GeneChing]

We'll pick this up in 3 weeks...unless there are more shenanigans between then and now.

‘Shrimp Boy’ trial postponed to Nov. 9
By Bay City News on October 19, 2015 12:48 pm

The racketeering and murder solicitation trial of Chinatown association leader Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow was postponed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday until Nov. 9.

The delay moves the trial one week past its previous start date of Nov. 2 for opening statements and the beginning of testimony.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ordered the postponement because Chow’s lead lawyer, veteran criminal defense attorney Tony Serra, is still in an unrelated murder trial in Yolo County Superior Court and will not be available for jury selection in Chow’s case this week.

Jury selection Chow’s trial will now take place on Nov. 2 and 3. The trial is expected to last about two months.

Chow, 55, is the dragonhead or leader of the Chee Kung Tong fraternal association in Chinatown. He is charged with racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to solicit the murder of a former associate in 2013, conspiring to transport and receive stolen goods and dozens of counts of money laundering.

Chow is also charged with an additional count of murder in aid of racketeering for allegedly causing the gunfire slaying in 2006 of Allen Leung, Chow’s predecessor as Chee Kung Tong leader.

But that charge, which could carry a potential death penalty upon conviction, may be tried in a later trial and not in the November proceeding.

Breyer said last week he will order a separate, later trial on the murder charge if U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch decides that prosecutors should seek a death penalty. He said Monday the murder charge will be included in the upcoming trial only if Lynch decides not to seek a death penalty and makes that decision before Nov. 2.

A possible death penalty would affect jury selection because it would be necessary to choose jurors willing to vote for capital punishment.

Also Monday, Breyer declined to reconsider a previous ruling in which he said prosecutors could keep secret the identities of undercover FBI agents who investigated the case. The judge said he might change his mind during the trial, depending how the evidence unfolds.

Chow was one of 29 people indicted last year in a wide-ranging indictment that included both organized-crime charges against most defendants and political corruption charges against former state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo.

Yee and 10 other defendants have pleaded guilty to various charges. Two of those defendants are former associates of Chow’s who are expected to testify against him on the murder-related charges, according to a recent prosecution filing.

[GeneChing]

BREAKING: Prosecutors will not seek death penalty in ‘Shrimp Boy’ trial


Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow has been indicted by a federal grand jury in San Francisco on new charges of participating in two murders in 2006 and 2013. (Jen Siska/Special to S.F. Examiner)
By Associated Press and Jonah Owen Lamb on October 26, 2015 5:54 pm

Federal prosecutors say they will not seek the death penalty against alleged Chinatown gangster Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office indicated in a court filing on Monday that it won’t seek the death penalty against Chow even though it had argued forcefully in court to the contrary.

Chow, who has pleaded not guilty, was already facing racketeering and money laundering charges when prosecutors earlier this month charged him with murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a potential sentence of death.

Chow is accused of arranging the 2006 shooting death of Allen Leung, who preceded Chow as leader of the Chinese fraternal group Ghee Kung Tong.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer severed the charges against Chow that had possible capital punishment after prosecutors made their failed attempt to include those charges in the racketeering case against Chow.

The Killing

Chow became the Dragonhead of the Ghee Kung Tong after Leung was killed.

But before Leung’s death, Chow had reportedly asked another fraternal organization, the Hop Sing Tong — of which Leung was a member — for $120,000 for a youth group.

The request was denied, then someone fired shots into the Hop Sing Tong’s front door.

Then Leung, who aided the FBI case looking into the shooting, was killed.

Chow alone wore white at Leung’s funeral, which some thought was a sign of disrespect. His attorneys said otherwise.

The defense also argues an FBI informant provided information about Leung’s killing and helped exonerate Chow. Despite this “the FBI has never missed an opportunity to try to paint Chow guilty for this murder,” Chow’s attorneys said in a filing.

They argue that evidence for Leung’s death points to another man.

“All evidence pointed at the now deceased Jim Tat Kong,” noted a recent defense filing. “Jim Tat Kong was attempting to take control of the Hop Sing Tong.”

Kong was found dead along with his wife Oct. 17, 2013, in Fort Bragg, in Mendocino County.

The wearing white = disrespect thing is a cultural misinterpretation.

[hskwarrior]

Wearing white at a funeral is a traditional Chinese cultural thing. Not a sign of disrespect. I was there at that funeral

[GeneChing]

Not to make light of this situation, but clearly those observers that thought wearing white at a funeral have never seen Bruce at his master's funeral in Fist of Fury.

[hskwarrior]

That's funny.

Nah, I wasn't part of Allen's family at that time but i knew him and was most likely the only white guy let in to pay respects before the funeral. I was at his funeral too. He's buried close to where I live.

@ 2:19 you can see me walking and my sifu in front of me. (there is a guy in between us).

[hskwarrior]

Thanks Gene, I hope this helps people to see the truth behind it

[hskwarrior]

http://ahdu88.blogspot.com/2006/04/s...-in-china.html

President Bush calls China a "strategic partner" in the war on terror, but some Chinese Americans are accusing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of bringing its own terror campaign to the USA. They believe the CCP ordered the murder of Allen Ngai Leung, 56, an admired community leader in San Francisco. The day after Leung's murder, an anonymous caller to the worldwide Sound of Hope radio said, "You want to know who killed Allen Leung? Call Chinese Consulate and Chinese Chamber of Commerce." And then hung up.

Leung's murder "is spreading terror … [to] warn [those who] … dare to oppose the CCP," the Epoch Times reported on March 8. "We have now seen the long arm of the Communist regime infiltrate the United States itself.... It is …a frightening escalation of the Communists' plans to silence and intimidate the overseas Chinese people, in San Francisco, here, and around the world."

[hskwarrior]

its going down now

[hskwarrior]

Very Interesting

[hskwarrior]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/1...-portraits.htm

[hskwarrior]

The second day of Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow’s federal criminal trial saw testimony from the FBI agent who monitored him after his release from prison in 2003 and from an associate of the alleged Chinatown gang leader who testified he helped plan a murder that Chow is accused of ordering.

Joe “Fat Joe” Chanthavong said he surveilled Allen Leung’s business for weeks before the former tong leader was shot to death in February 2006.

He testified he was brought into the alleged gang hit sometime in mid-2005, when he met with Raymond Chow, Raymond “Skinny Ray” Lei, and another man he only knew by his first name, Kevin.

At first, Chanthavong said, he wasn’t sure what kind of job he was being brought into — he doesn’t speak Chinese. But its nature became clear after Chow went back into the bar in Oakland near where the meeting took place.

“We start talking and start brainstorming and that’s when I learn that someone was going to get taken out,” he said.

He then started driving by 603 Jackson St. in San Francisco’s Chinatown — where Leung would eventually be shot to death on Feb. 27, 2006. But when he got the call from “Kevin” to do the shooting, Chanthavong said he got cold feet.

“I didn’t want to be a part of it,” he said. “I’m not a killer. I’m a drug dealer.”

He said a few weeks after he walked away from the job, he read Allen Leung’s name in the newspaper.

“I had no reaction,” he said. “I knew it was going to happen, so it wasn’t a surprise.”

Federal prosecutor Waqar Hasib asked him if he ever asked Raymond Chow about the killing after it happened.

“No,” he answered. “It’s something you don’t talk about. I mean, the guy was murdered. I didn’t ask. That’s the thing — you don’t ask questions. Once it’s done, it’s done.”

Chanthavong is one of Chow’s nearly two dozen co-defendants. He said he pleaded guilty to racketeering, marijuana and cocaine distribution, narcotics manufacturing, being a felon in possession of a firearm and selling firearms without a license — at least three he sold to an undercover FBI agent.

Hasib asked him what he hoped to get in exchange for his testimony.

“I get a break out of it,” Chanthavong answered, “a lesser sentence.”

According to FBI Special Agent William Wu, who was cross-examined Tuesday, Chow began plans to take out Allen Leung in late 2003.

Chow’s attorney, Curtis Briggs, peppered Wu with questions about why the bureau in 2004 withdrew support for Chow’s release from immigration custody. Chow was awaiting a visa in exchange for testifying against another member of “Jackson Street Boys,” a Chinatown gang, according to Wu.

The agent repeatedly described a “series of events,” which individually were uncorroborated, but taken together, the FBI could “no longer feel comfortable that we can monitor Mr. Chow.”

Leung got in touch with the FBI through the SFPD’s Gang Task Force in late 2003.

“Allen Leung told me that Raymond Chow came to remove him and somebody else,” he said, later clarifying Leung meant the head of another tong, “so he could take over and clean up Chinatown.”

Wu met with Leung three times in quick succession that November, the agent testified, and each time he said he was scared of Raymond Chow. Wu, Chow’s handling agent, asked Leung to wear a wire.

“Mr. Leung refused to wear the body wire because he was afraid if Mr. Chow found the wire, he would kill him,” Wu said, adding that Leung told him, as a gang member, he could not use law enforcement to set up another gang member.

“But he’s talking to you,” Briggs said. “He’s doing exactly what he said he swore not to do?”

Wu said that was true, and after Leung refused to wear the wire, there wasn’t much else the FBI could do.

Leung later told Wu, the agent testified, that an associate of Chow’s showed up with 40 gang members to intimidate the former dragon head. Then in February of 2005, Wu said, someone splattered red paint on every one of Chinatown’s tongs except for Hop Sing. Leung, the head of Hop Sing Tong, again contacted Wu and was frightened.

“Red paint signifies blood,” Wu said. “It’s the start of a gang war.”

Leung told Wu, according to the agent, that Hop Sing Tong was being set up.

Then a month later, two gunshots were fired at the front of Hop Sing Tong’s headquarters.

“That’s violence we do not and cannot tolerate,” Wu said.

Chow was never directly linked to any of the incidents and denied any involvement.

“You took every gang member’s word over his,” Briggs said.

Nevertheless, the FBI’s support for Chow’s monitored release from immigration custody was revoked, and Chow went back into custody for about a year, although the U.S. Attorney’s Office continued to advocate for his release.

“After Mr. Chow was turned back into custody, Chinatown was quiet for that entire year, until he was released again,” Wu said.

[hskwarrior]

http://www.sfexaminer.com/judge-orde...er-fbi-agents/

[hskwarrior]

http://www.sfexaminer.com/separate-f...by-shrimp-boy/

[GeneChing]

There's video with courtroom sketches if you follow the link.

FBI UNDERCOVER AGENT BECAME LIKE BROTHER TO 'SHRIMP BOY'
FBI undercover agent became like brother to Shrimp Boy
In the trial of Chinatown gangster Shrimp Boy the undercover agent said he became like a brother to the defendant.
KGO By Vic Lee
Wednesday, November 18, 2015 10:10PM

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The government's lead witness in the trial of reputed Chinatown gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow claims he became like a brother to the defendant during the undercover operation. Jurors heard secretly recorded conversations backing up that claim.

Chow was indicted for two murders and other crimes, including money laundering. Prosecutors questioned their star witness -- an FBI undercover agent who posed as a mafioso, using the alias Dave Jordan.

The prosecution played recorded conversations and wiretaps. The agent became like a brother to Chow, meeting him and his associates in expensive restaurants like Morton's steakhouse and in Chinatown.

VIDEO: Trial begins for former Chinatown gang member Raymond 'Shrimp Boy' Chow

This sketch shows Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow inside a San Francisco courtroom at the start of his trial November 9, 2015.

Jordan said Chow's driver George Nieh became his point man for money laundering and other criminal activities.

In one exchange, Nieh tells Jordan, "I'm ready to do business with you. I have Mr. Chow's blessing. Tell me what you want to do?"

The government maintains Chow directed the criminal activities of his associates, even though defense attorneys say he had no involvement. Jordan said he gave envelopes of cash to Chow and each time, he would politely decline before taking it.

Jordan: "His standard response was 'No, no, no.'"
Prosecutor: "Did he take the money?"
Jordan: "Yes, immediately."

Chow's attorney says his client thought Jordan was giving it to him out of respect.

Defense Attorney Curtis Briggs told ABC7 News, "He did take some money, but he didn't take any money for anything illegal."

Agent alias Dave Jordan is back on the stand on Thursday. The court will again protect his identity by closing the hearing to members of the public, who can still hear his testimony in the media room of the courthouse.

[hskwarrior]

I can't stop laughing when i read the line that the undercover agents "INFILTRATED" the Ghee Kung Tong when our doors were open to the public and there was nothing to hide. If he went through some long process of being vetted and eventually allowed into the club then maybe he infiltrated us. However, since i was present I can tell everyone that the FBI didn't infiltrate us. When they appeared into the picture, THEY came with all the CRIME and bull****, not GHEE KUNG TONG. We were busy doing good community things before they showed up.

FBI don't feel so highly about yourself when you didn't infiltrate ****! Its almost like you saying you infiltrated 7-11...whose always open 24-7.