For Immediate Release: April 10, 2012
Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff, Office: 714-347-8408, Cell: 714-292-2718
Farrah Emami, Spokesperson, Office: 714-347-8405, Cell: 714-323-4486
FOUR MEMBERS OF VIETNAMESE CRIMINAL STREET GANG CONVICTED OF 1995 COLD CASE EXECUTION-STYLE RETALIATORY MURDER
SANTA ANA – Four members of a Vietnamese criminal street gang were convicted today of the 1995 cold case execution-style murder of a fellow gang associate in retaliation for abandoning them while committing a home invasion robbery one day earlier. Anthony Paul Johnson, Jr., 35, Westminster, Giang Thuy Nguyen, 36, Fountain Valley, Tam Hung Nguyen, 36, Riverside, and Truc Ngoc Tran, 34, Santa Ana, were each found guilty by a jury of one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder with sentencing enhancement allegations for murder by lying in wait and committing a crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang. The sentencing enhancement against Johnson for murder to avoid arrest was found true. The sentencing enhancements for murder to avoid arrest and crime-bail-crime against Giang Nguyen were found true. The sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm against Tam Nguyen was found true. All four defendants face a sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole at their sentencing June 8, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-43, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Continue reading