Tuesday, March 22, 2005 | 11:20 a.m.
A jury on Monday convicted a man for demanding millions of dollars from Celine Dion's husband to silence a rape allegation.
Ae Ho Kwon was found guilty of one count each of extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and being a participant witness in the solicitation of a bribe for trying to blackmail Dion's husband, Rene Angelil.
District Judge Jackie Glass is scheduled to sentence Kwon on May 12.
A criminal investigation into allegations Angelil sexually assaulted Kwon's wife, Yun Kyeong Sung, at the Imperial Palace Casino was closed by police after Kwon and Sung failed to promptly give police a red jacket that the couple claimed contained evidence supporting their allegations.
On Oct. 28 a Clark County jury had found Sung guilty of the same charges. Glass sentenced Sung to a year in jail and 16 months to 5 years in prison.
A key piece of evidence in both trials was a videotape of a meeting during which lawyers for Kwon and Sung tried to convince a lawyer for Angelil, to pay $13.5 million.
Prior to the meeting, Angelil's lawyer had reported to Metro Police that he believed Angelil was the target of an extortion plot. A detective acting under the guise of Angelil's business manager arranged and secretly taped the meeting.
In the taped meeting, which occurred in January 2003, Sung and Kwon are seen to say little, letting their lawyers, Joseph Hong and Michael Olsen, do most of the talking.
Chief Deputy District Attorney L.J. O'Neale apparently convinced the jury that it was Kwon and Sung's idea to make the threats that their lawyers articulated during that meeting.
Kwon and Sung had already received $2 million from Angelil to keep a fondling allegation quiet when, in 2002, they allegedly renewed demands for more money, this time claiming Angelil raped her on the March 2000 night in question, authorities said.
On the tape, the couple's lawyers said that if the money wasn't paid Kwon and Sung would conduct "a bombardment in the mass media" aimed at destroying Angelil's reputation.
Kwon's attorney, Lisa Rasmussen, argued the threats were never made by Kwon and his wife, but instead by their attorneys who were acting on their own accord.
Rasmussen also objected strongly to the fact that she was not able to get Angelil onto the witness stand so that Kwon would have the opportunity to confront his accuser in court.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy