United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello
Northern District of California

17 CHARGED IN ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME THEFT RING

Two Criminal Organizations Charged with Conspiracy, Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property, Structuring Financial Transactions, and Money Laundering

SAN JOSE– United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that a federal grand jury in San Jose has indicted two criminal organizations, 17 defendants in all, for their role in a large scale fencing operation to buy and sell over-the-counter health and beauty products and to launder the proceeds through complex financial transactions.  The defendants named in the two indictments are:

United States v. Truc Quoc Le, et al., CR 08-00401 JF

            TRUC QUOC LE,

            THUY DANG,

            LEO LE NGUYEN,

            GLENN LENGSAVATH,

            TIFFANY VU,

            THAN LE,

            TIEN LE,

            JOHANNA RODRIGUEZ,

            CARMEN SARMIENTO,

                 a/k/a Carmen Gutierrez,                            

            MANUAL GUTIERREZ, and                                                                                             

            JUAN ESPINOZA,

                 a/k/a Freddy Navarro,       

United States v. Jules Minh Son Vo, et al., CR 08-00402 RMW

            JULES MINH SON VO

            NHU MAI NGUYEN

            TAN MINH VO

            KEVIN VO

            NGUYEN NHU TRAN

            RICHARD KHOI TRAN

            According to the two indictments, each group of defendants conspired to acquire and distribute over-the-counter health and beauty (OTC/HB) products, which they knew to have been stolen from major chains including Safeway, Target, Walgreens, Walmart, Longs Drugs, Raleys/Nob Hill, Save Mart, and other stores, and then to sell those products in interstate commerce.  The OTC/HB products, including such items as analgesics and cough and cold medications, razor blades, camera film, batteries, beauty products, infant formula, and oral care products, were stolen by organized crews of professional shoplifters, also known as “boosters.”  The boosters sold stolen merchandise to intermediaries, known as “fences,” who would in turn sell the product to wholesale distributors located outside of California.  The distributors completed the circle by selling the stolen merchandise back to retailers.  As part of the conspiracy, the boosters, fences, and wholesale distributors would “clean” the stolen property by removing any identifying price labels, store security tags, and other distinguishing markings, so that the ultimate (re)purchasers would not know that they were buying stolen goods.

            The indictment against the Truc Quoc Le group also seeks a money judgment of $14,257,302 from the defendants, consisting of the gross proceeds the organization received from distributors who purchased stolen property during the period covered by the indictment, as well as the forfeiture of real property located at 40303 Blacow Road, in Fremont, California; five vehicles; approximately $165,000 in cash seized from the defendants; nine diamonds, twelve gold bars, and other assorted watches and jewelry, and the funds in ten bank accounts, totaling $81,502.93, seized pursuant to Seizure Warrants issued by Magistrate Judge Patricia V. Trumbull on June 2, 2008.  

            The indictment against the Vo group alleges that Jules Vo and his cohorts used a local San Jose business, JV Tools & Wholesale, with locations at 1249 Old Bayshore Highway and 2000 Senter Road, as a front for their illegal enterprise.  Stolen products were delivered to those locations by defendant Mai Nguyen, who bought the items from boosters (and also from an undercover San Jose Police Department officer posing as one), where they were sorted and packaged for shipment out of state.  The Vo indictment also seeks the forfeiture of property: a money judgment of $5,682,626, two pieces of real property (1164 Bendmill Way and 2534 Brahms Avenue, both located in San Jose), one vehicle, approximately $24,000 in cash seized from the defendants; and the funds in five bank accounts, totaling $84,077.81, seized pursuant to Seizure Warrants issued by Magistrate Judge Patricia V. Trumbull on June 2, 2008. 

            Joseph P. Russoniello, United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, commended the work of the San Jose Police Department on the case: “This indictment is an outstanding example of the results that can be achieved when federal and local law enforcement agencies collaborate to pursue appropriate investigations.  The primary San Jose Police officers on this case, Officer John Barg and Detective Doug Gerbrandt, worked tirelessly with agents from the IRS and FBI to bring this case to the point where it was ready to be charged.  I thank and commend San Jose Police Chief Robert Davis for the work of those two fine officers, as well as the many other SJPD officers who helped during the investigation.  My office will continue to focus its efforts on arresting and prosecuting those who, by dealing in stolen property on such a massive scale, harm not only (1) the retail stores who are the direct victims of the crimes, (2) consumers who pay higher prices for basic necessities as a result of the actions of these organized criminal groups, but also (3) by depriving the county of sales tax revenue that would otherwise have been paid for the stolen goods, every taxpayer in this District.”                                                          

            San Jose Police Chief Robert Davis stated: “As I said during the press conference announcing the arrests of these defendants on June 4, 2008, my department simply will not tolerate any type of crime committed in San Jose.  We will continue to work diligently to root out organized retail thieves and the fences who buy from them, as their actions victimize consumers, businesses, and taxpayers.  My Department will also continue to work closely with our federal counterparts to ensure that our investigative efforts do not stop at the borders of San Jose, when the crimes involved extend beyond those borders.” 

            The defendants were previously arrested on June 4, 2008, the same date that search warrants were executed on during the execution of search warrants.

            The maximum statutory penalties for each count in the indictments are as follows: Conspiracy to Commit Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property in violation of Title 18 U.S.C § 371 is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine (or twice the amount of gross gain or gross loss as a result of the offense).  For Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), the maximum penalty is 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $500,000 (or twice the gross gain/loss).  Upon a conviction for 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Engaging in Monetary Transactions Using Criminally-Derived Proceeds), the maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine (or twice the gross gain).  The maximum statutory penalty for structuring financial transactions in violation of Title 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a) is ten years imprisonment and a fine of $500,000 (or twice the amount of funds involved in the offense).  Finally, for Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314, the maximum penalties are  ten years in prison and a fine of $250,000 (or twice the gross gain).  However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. 

            An indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

            David Callaway is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Tracey Andersen.  The prosecution is the result of a two-year investigation by the San Jose Police Department, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Further Information:

             Case #: CR 08-00401 JF, CR 08-00402 RMW                                                

            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. 

            All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.