Shrimp Boy Chow’s|Cohorts Plead Guilty

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – Five men and a woman rounded up in the FBI sting that snared Chinatown gangster Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow pleaded guilty Wednesday to a slew of charges, including money laundering and dealing guns and drugs.
     George Nieh, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, felony firearm possession, trafficking cigarettes, gun dealing, and 146 counts of money laundering.
     Nieh admitted he conspired with Chow to sell a case of stolen Johnnie Walker Blue Label scotch and stolen cigarettes to undercover FBI agents.
     Chow, who heads the fraternal organization Ghee Kung Tong, insists he had no part in the agents’ repeated attempts to get him to green-light criminal activity.
     Chow and seven co-defendants await a Nov. 2 trial on racketeering charges.
     U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in August rejected a selective prosecution motion that claimed the FBI unfairly targeted Chow in its political corruption and racketeering probe that also snagged former state Sen. Leland Yee and former San Francisco school board president Keith Jackson.
     The FBI’s 5-year undercover investigation netted 28 defendants, 16 of whom await trial.
     Yee and Jackson both pleaded guilty in July to one count of racketeering in plea deals.
     Five more of Chow’s co-defendants – Leslie Yun, Kevin Sui, Alan Chiu, Yat Wa Pau, and Andy Li – also pleaded guilty Wednesday to money laundering, selling stolen cigarettes and conspiring to distribute marijuana.
     Chow, 55, born in Hong Kong, served 7 years in prison for a 1978 robbery conviction. The year after he was released he was charged with 28 counts, many of them involving violence or attempted violence, and served 3 more years. In 1992 he was arrested again, on racketeering charges, and was sentenced to 24 years in 1995. He got out early after testifying against his former boss.
     He refused to take a plea deal in July. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years on each count of money laundering.
     He got his nickname from his grandmother, because he was a little tyke.

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