In a recent federal court ruling, San Fernando Valley resident Daekun Cho received a sentence of 22 and a half years in prison after being found guilty of racketeering targeting karaoke companies in Koreatown. United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha also ordered Cho to pay restitution and a special assessment totaling $245,867, reported the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Cho's crimes, which included physical attacks and threats towards his victims, were part of a long-standing scheme to extort "protection" money from businesses and individual drivers employed by karaoke establishments. Waiting for him in a karaoke parking lot, Cho and his accomplice brutally attacked a victim with baseball bats after the victim refused to pay more money, an incident leading to the victim's business closure and subsequent departure from California.
"For years, this defendant terrorized merchants in Koreatown with his violent, shake-down schemes and intimidated victims into remaining silent," United States Attorney Martin Estrada was quoted, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports. The successful conviction was a joint effort between local law enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to combat violent crime and ensure public safety.
In testimony, one victim recalled Cho intimidating them with a gun to the head when they resisted his demands. At the point of his arrest on the charges, Cho was in possession of multiple firearms, a stash of ammunition, weapons, and over $20,000 in cash. The discovery made by the Los Angeles Police Department that Cho used to demand payments via Venmo during the pandemic when he once preferred cash, a strategy perhaps adapted for modern times but rooted in an age-old tradition of coercion.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jena A. MacCabe and Kevin J. Butler of the Violent and Organized Crime Section were responsible for the prosecution of the case. For further information, public inquiries may be directed to Public Information Officer Ciaran McEvoy.
