Fugitive Defendant Sentenced to 87 Months for Attempting to Obstruct Commerce and for Failure to Appear for Sentencing

SAN JOSE, CA—Luong Hue Tieu was sentenced Monday to 80 months of imprisonment for attempting to obstruct commerce and to a consecutive 7 months of imprisonment for failure to appear for sentencing, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced. 

Tieu pled guilty on Jan. 13, 1997, to attempt and aiding and abetting in the attempt to obstruct commerce in violation of the Hobbs Act, Title 18 United States Code, Section 1951 and Section 2.  

In the plea agreement, Tieu admitted that in May of 1995, he willfully and knowingly attempted, and aided and abetted in the attempt to rob a computer chip warehouse. The defendant acknowledged that he took substantial steps in attempting, and aiding and abetting in the attempt to carry out the takeover robbery of the computer chip warehouse. He admitted that he purchased a police scanner for the robbery and that he drove with a co-defendant to the robbery location.   

Tieu failed to appear for the original sentencing hearing, which was scheduled to be held on July 7, 1997. A bench warrant was issued for Tieu’s arrest on that same day. On July 29, 1997, the federal grand jury in San Jose returned an indictment charging Tieu with Failure to Appear in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3146. 

Tieu remained at large until he was apprehended on Jan. 3, 2008 on state charges in Santa Ana, Calif. On Jan. 4, 2008, the defendant was released from state custody into FBI custody on the federal arrest warrant and made his initial appearance in federal court. During the time that he was a fugitive, Tieu committed additional crimes and sustained additional convictions. On three separate occasions—April 17, 2006; March 16, 2007; and Sept. 9, 2007—the defendant, using the alias “David Tien,” was arrested for possession of a narcotic controlled substances and related charges, for which he was convicted and sentenced.    

On Feb. 9, 2009, Tieu entered an open guilty plea to the 1997 federal indictment charging him with Failure to Appear. 

The sentence of 80 months of imprisonment for the defendant’s conviction on the 1995 Hobbs Act charge, to be followed by 7 consecutive months of imprisonment for the defendant’s conviction on the 1997 Failure to Appear charge, was handed down by U.S. District Court Ronald M. Whyte. Judge Whyte also sentenced the defendant to two concurrent three-year periods of supervised release—one for each of the two cases. 

According to Russoniello, this case represents the federal government’s determination to bring to justice, regardless of how long it takes, those who flout our laws. “Whenever possible, we will ask the court to increase the sentence on those who, not only commit crimes, but attempt to avoid responsibility by running away, he said.. “Disguise or assumed identity might delay apprehension, but neither will frustrate our determination to see that justice is done.” 

Shawna Yen is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Technician Tracey Andersen. The prosecution is the result of a thirteen-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Further Information:

Case #:07-0300 JSW

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges' calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.