A US appellate court overturned the "murder for hire" conviction of a Chinese gang kingpin who wanted a rival killed to expand his criminal empire, court documents showed on Friday.
Wo Hop To gang boss Peter Chong in San Francisco evidently condoned assassinating a Boston rival but didn't pay the aspiring killers anything, Judge Raymond Fisher wrote for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Fisher and two other appellate judges ruled that, according to the law, Chong can't be guilty of contracting a murder if he didn't exchange "anything of pecuniary value" for the dirty work.
The evidence at trial showed that an underling, who failed in his deadly mission, "volunteered for a dangerous assignment and wound up getting some walking-around money in the course of traveling to Boston," Fisher wrote.
The judges faulted federal prosecutors for asking directly during the trial whether intended hitmen were paid for the job.
"Accordingly, we reverse Chong's conviction on murder-for-hire," Fisher concluded.
Chong is to remain in custody pending a hearing at which his sentence will be revised, the judges decreed.
Jurors that convicted Chong at a trial in 2003 found him guilty of conspiring to contract a murder, along with "participating in a racketeer influenced and corrupt organization" and several counts of extortion.
Chong, who is in his early 60s, was sentenced to slightly more than 15 years in federal prison for his original convictions.
Chong's lawyer argued publicly after the Thursday court ruling that Chong should be freed because he has already spent enough time behind bars, given the murder-for-hire charge was tossed.
Chong came to the United States in 1982 to supposedly establish a Chinese opera company, but rose to be boss of the Wo Hop To crime syndicate in Northern California, according to court documents.
The gang specialized in loan sharking and extorting protection money from restaurants and gambling dens.
Chong forged alliances with fellow gangsters Wayne Kwong and Raymond Chow to form "an umbrella organization" called "Tien Ha Wui," which translates to "Whole Earth Association," according to prosecutors.
The gangsters envisioned getting a foothold on the East Coast by eliminating Bike Ming, boss of the Boston gang "Ping On," and setting up a gambling operation in that city's Chinatown.
One of Japan’s biggest pop stars and best-known TV hosts, Masahiro Nakai, yesterday announced his retirement over sexual misconduct allegations, reports said, in the latest scandal to rock Japan’s entertainment industry. Nakai’s announcement came after now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates admitted in 2023 that its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, for decades sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men. Nakai was a member of the now-disbanded SMAP — part of Johnny & Associates’s lucrative stable — that swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the band’s nearly 30 years of fame. Reports emerged last month that Nakai, 52, who since
EYEING A SOLUTION: In unusually critical remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said he was ‘destroying Russia by not making a deal’ US President Donald Trump on Wednesday stepped up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a peace deal with Ukraine, threatening tougher economic measures if Moscow does not agree to end the war. Trump’s warning in a social media post came as the Republican seeks a quick solution to a grinding conflict that he had promised to end before even starting his second term. “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS