South Boston Man Pleads Guilty to Loansharking and Gambling Charges

BOSTON - A South Boston man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to loansharking and gambling charges.

Tam V. Nguyen, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means and one count of operating an illegal gambling business. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Sept. 11, 2019.

From April to August 2017, Nguyen conspired to collect an extension of credit from a victim. Nguyen also engaged in an illegal gambling business from September 2016 through August 2017.  According to court proceedings, Nguyen was a bookmaker and conspired to collect a large gambling debt from a bettor. In an intercepted telephone call, Nguyen told a conspirator to “go ahead and be firm, be firm with him. That will make him afraid and try hard to take care of it.  That’s all.”

As part of the same investigation, in August 2017, Vinh Quang Huynh, Quang PT Le, and Kim Nguyen, all of Dorchester, were charged with kidnapping, conspiracy to collect extension of credit by extortionate means, and operating an illegal gambling business. In May 2018, Le was sentenced to six years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,300. In March 2019, Kim Nguyen was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,300. In December 2017, Huynh pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. In addition, as part of the same case, Ban “Bo” Tran pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony and was sentenced in February 2019 to eight months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.  

The charge of conspiracy to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and fine of $250,000. The charge of operating an illegal gambling business provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; and Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan made the announcement today. The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston and the Massachusetts Department of Correction assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy E. Moran of Lelling’s Organized Crime and Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.