Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 | 4:16 p.m.
Five Los Angeles area men facing federal conspiracy, robbery, extortion and drug trafficking charges entered not guilty pleas before a federal magistrate judge today and were detained pending trial, Nevada's U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said.
James Arum Han, 28; Rene Antwan Hypolite, 26; David Chon, 28; Howard Suh, 25; and Kyung Hoon Han, 34, were arraigned by U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley, Jr. The men were charged in an indictment filed Feb. 1, with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of racketeering and interstate travel in aid of racketeering activity.
If convicted, they face up to life imprisonment.
The indictment alleges that in December, James Arum Han met with two people at a Las Vegas resort and told them he had several crews who could commit home invasion robberies in Las Vegas. On Jan. 14, he traveled from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and met with an undercover FBI employee and another individual, and told them he had done more than 100 home invasion robberies and wanted to do more.
He also said he would “run the show” and take 50 percent of whatever was taken during the robberies.
On Jan. 21, the group traveled from California to Las Vegas. The next day, James Arum Han met with the undercover employee, who told Han that the job was the robbery of a drug stash house containing 30 kilograms of cocaine. Han advised that he wanted to do the robbery, and described the plan to the other defendants on Jan. 22.
According to the indictment, Hypolite and Chon acknowledged that their role was to rush in and tie up the occupants of the house; Suh acknowledged that his role was to be a "sweeper," and James Arum Han and Kyung Hoon Han acknowledged their role was to be the “point and watch out” men. They were arrested in Las Vegas on Jan. 22.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and Metro Police, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson.
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