Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow found guilty of murder, racketeering
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal jury found Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow guilty Friday of conspiring to kill a San Francisco Chinatown crime rival, failing to be influenced by his witness-stand plea that he was a changed man and had played no role in the slaying.
Chow, who took the stand in his own defense during the two-month trial, was found guilty of arranging the 2006 murder of Allen Leung, the "dragonhead" or leader, of the Ghee Kung Tong, a fraternal organization based in San Francisco's Chinatown, reports CBS San Francisco.
Chow was also found guilty on 161 other counts, including racketeering and conspiracy.
He faces a potential life sentence in federal prison.
Prosecutors told the jury that Chow took over Ghee Kung Tong after Leung's death and ran an enterprise that engaged in drug trafficking, money laundering and the sale of stolen cigarettes and alcohol.
Federal prosecutor Susan Badger urged jurors to disregard Chow's claims that he had changed since previous run-ins with the law as a young man. Badger said deception is part of Chow's nature.
"He is not the victim here," Badger said during her nearly four-hour presentation. "He is not the world's most misunderstood criminal."
The defense argued that the government had failed to prove its case. Serra said in his closing argument that the prosecution case was built on "shadows of evidence, the echoes of evidence."
He derided the prosecution's use of testimony from Chow's alleged co-conspirators and an undercover federal agent who posed as a member of an East Coast crime syndicate during the four-year investigation.
"These are snakes," Serra told jurors. "Would you believe a talking snake? You will not, no one will."
Outside the courtroom, Serra told reporters that Chow "was noble in acceptance of defeat," but said he plans to appeal the verdice
"We will prevail in the 2nd round," Serra said. "We are frustrated, agonized, and outraged. This trial was based on testimony of five snitches."
An undercover FBI agent testified that he spent hours with Chow and people connected to him at fancy restaurants and nightclubs, recording many of their conversations.
The agent, who testified under a pseudonym to protect his identity, said Chow tried to distance himself from any criminal activity during the probe, but repeatedly accepted money after introducing the agent to money launderers.
The probe led to the indictment of more than two dozen people in 2014 and the racketeering conviction of state Sen. Leland Yee.
Yee pleaded guilty to a racketeering count in July alleging he accepted bribes from Chow's associates and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 10.