Category: crime & punishment

This guy is quite the burglar considering he stole over $480,000 in valuables in less than a year:

An ex-convict who allegedly underwent surgery to change his appearance in order to continue carrying out burglaries has been arrested, authorities said Monday.

Police in Incheon, west of Seoul, said the 35-year-old man stole 530 million won (US$480,000) worth of valuables from April to December 2014.

The man had undergone surgery to reduce his jaw size and lengthen his legs in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity, the Incheon Nambu Police Station said. The man, however, said the procedures were intended to boost his self-esteem.

A former worker in home decoration, he also used handmade tools to dismantle digital door locks at more than 80 apartments, authorities said, adding they are looking to see whether he had committed other crimes.  [Yonhap]

It seems the police probably should have caught this woman sooner, but fortunately now she has been arrested:

A 44-year-old woman has been detained by police for questioning over whether she fatally poisoned her ex-husband, current husband and mother-in-law from 2011 to 2013.

The suspected black widow living in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, is also alleged to have fed her own daughter a non-lethal dose of poison to make her sick and get insurance money.

“We believe she killed the victims because of conflicts or to earn death benefits,” said a police officer at the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency on Tuesday. “The investigation was launched after insurance companies tipped off the police that her family members died and she received huge sums in insurance.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes this story of a gunman in South Korea who killed three people before committing suicide:

 

A gunman shot and killed three people Friday before he was found dead at a home in a city near the capital Seoul in the second such incident in three days, police officials said.

Shooting incidents are rare in South Korea, which tightly controls gun possession, and the two deadly shootings this week will likely trigger a debate on whether the country should tighten its control on hunting weapons that can be legally owned.

A police official from Hwaseong City, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules, said the victims included a policeman who was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene. The official said the suspect is believed to be the brother of one of the victims, whose wife was also dead.

The suspect was found dead with a gunshot wound in what the police believed to be a suicide. The daughter-in-law of the dead couple managed to escape by jumping from a second-floor window before alerting the police, and is currently being treated at a hospital for a minor back injury.

Police said the murder weapon was believed to be a hunting gun. The gunman had retrieved the gun from a nearby police station about an hour before the morning shooting, the police official said.

South Koreans can obtain licenses for shotguns and air rifles for the purpose of hunting animals, but they are required to keep the weapons at police stations and use them only during legal hunting periods. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the suspect owned the gun or had a proper license for it.  [Fox News]

You can read the rest at the link, but according to Yonhap the shooter was 75 years old and checked out the hunting rifle shortly before the shooting:

Police said Jeon often got drunk and demanded money from his brother, according to his neighbors.

He took out a hunting rifle from a police station an hour before the shooting and told the officers he would return after he finishes hunting the next day.

Police officers said they did not notice anything suspicious about the man despite his old age and frequent visits to the substation to take out guns.

The incident came two days after another gunman killed three people in the central city of Sejong before turning the gun on himself.

Civilians are rarely armed with guns in South Korea. Only those with genuine reasons are allowed to own one, and it must be stored at police substations. [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but the Korean police plan to limit the amount of substations now that can hold guns and require re-licensing for hunting weapons every three years now in response to this incident.

I have to think this US Marine is pleading not guilty for murder in the hopes that he will instead be charged with a lesser manslaughter charge:

A Philippine court entered a not guilty plea Monday for a U.S. Marine charged with murdering a transgender Filipino, allegedly after he discovered her gender when they checked into a hotel.

Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton refused to enter a plea in the brief proceeding in a court in Olongapo city northwest of Manila, according to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. Journalists were barred from the courtroom.

Dozens of left-wing protesters waved red flags outside the courthouse, demanding justice and an end to the U.S. military presence in the former American colony. Gay and lesbian groups have also staged protests denouncing the killing of Jennifer Laude, whose former name was Jeffrey, as a hate crime.

Monday’s arraignment paves the way for Pemberton’s trial, which lawyers of the victim’s family said is scheduled to start next month.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

A US military contractor working at Yongsan has found himself in hot water with the ROK authorities:

Police said Monday that a civilian worker with the Eighth U.S. Army has been charged with violating a drunken driving inspection and injuring a police officer on duty.

The U.S. national contractor, whose name was withheld, is suspected of hitting the police officer while dodging a crackdown on drunken drivers late Sunday in the Seoul district of Yongsan where the Army base is located, according to police.

During questioning, the 31-year-old said he was searching for a hospital to get medication for his heart disease but denied that he was driving the wrong way or hit the police officer.

Police said the results of tests conducted hours after the accident showed that the contractor was sober but added that they could not confirm his state at the time of the accident.

The injured police officer has been hospitalized for an abrasion and an ankle ligament injury, police said. (Korea Herald)

Koreans in a bar would of course never resort to this kind of violence:

In December, about 20 Cambodian workers engaged in a bloody group fight inside a bar in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

The incident is belatedly becoming the talk of town after surveillance camera footage showing their brutal fight was aired on TV Wednesday.

Some of the Cambodian men, who all work in factories in Gimhae or Busan on temporary visas, sustained deep stab wounds and bone fractures that will require months of hospital treatment, police said.

During the fight, they smashed bottles of beer and soju, and threw dozens of chairs at each other, breaking dishes and glasses. The owner of the bar said he was lucky that they only cost him his tables and dishes, not his life.

“There were a lot of blood stains. I could have been hit by any of the bottles they threw,” he said.

Residents in Gimhae were frightened by the videos of the incident.

“I thought of foreign factory workers as being docile, hardworking and somewhat naïve. But this likely breaks that stereotype. They could be violent and dangerous, too. I’m afraid of them,” a resident said.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes this news that sentence for Heather Cho who was at the center of the Nut Rage case has been announced:

An onboard tantrum dubbed “nut rage” culminated Thursday in a one-year prison sentence for Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-ah, a humiliating rebuke that only partially quelled public outrage at the excesses of South Korea’s business elite.

Cho, the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, achieved worldwide notoriety after she ordered the chief flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight, forcing it to return to the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

Head of cabin service at the time of the incident, Cho was angered she had been offered macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish. A heated and physical confrontation with members of the crew in first class ensued.

A Seoul court said Cho, 40, was guilty of forcing a flight to change its route, obstructing the flight’s captain in the performance of his duties, forcing a crew member off a plane and assaulting a crew member. It found her not guilty of interfering with a transport ministry investigation into the incident. Cho pleaded not guilty and prosecutors had called for three years in prison.

Cho, in custody since Dec. 30, wiped away tears with a tissue as a letter expressing her remorse was read to the court by head judge Oh Seong-woo.

It included details about how Cho, one of the richest women in South Korea who regularly flew first class, was adjusting to the basic conditions in prison and reflecting on her life. “I know my faults and I’m very sorry,” Cho said in her letter.  [Associated Press]

You can read the rest at the link, but I am surprised she received that much time in prison.  Usually you see these business tycoons get rolled into the court in wheelchairs claim they are sick, show their remorse, and then receive suspended sentences.  Maybe Cho should have come to court in a wheelchair because by Korean business tycoon standards she got slammed pretty good for what she did.  This just goes to show what a nerve she struck with the Korean public that no one in the legal or political circles were willing to stick their necks out to help her.  With that all said, with time served and good behavior she will likely be quietly released from prison in a few months.

Here is the first USFK court martial and ROK criminal prosecutions of the year and there sure are a lot of people being prosecuted to start the new year:

Results of Army Courts-Martial for January 2015

On 6 January 2015, at a Special Court Martial, Specialist Alvin Cinco, 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 65th Medical Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of Abusive Sexual Contact (Article 120, UCMJ).  The Soldier was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to perform 30 days of hard labor, and to be restricted for 30 days to the confines of Camp Walker.

On 9 January 2015, at a General Court-Martial, Private (E-2) Joseph Kargbo, 498th Combat Sustainment Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of disobeying a commissioned officer’s lawful order (Article 90, UCMJ); one specification of sexual assault (Article 120); one specification of false official statement (Article 107); two specifications of assault upon a law officer (Article 128); and one specification of failing to obey a general order (Article 92).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to forfeit of all pay and allowances, to be confined for 180 days, and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

On 9 January 2015, at a Summary Court-Martial, Sergeant First Class Steven E. Barnett, 94th Military Police Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of signing a false document (Article 107); and two specifications of larceny of military property (Article 121).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-6 and to forfeit $2,914.00 pay per month for one month.

On 15 January 2015 at a Special Court-Martial, Private (E-1) Stefan D. Hughes, 602d ASB, 2CAB, 2ID, was found guilty of one specification of aggravated assault (Article 128, UCMJ); one specification of assault consummated by battery (Article 128); one specification of insubordinate conduct toward a noncommissioned officer (Article 91); one specification of destruction of nonmilitary property (Article 109); two specifications of wrongful appropriation (Article 121); and one specification of disorderly conduct  (Article 134).  He was sentenced to be confined for 140 days, to forfeit $600 pay per month for four months, and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 22 January 2015, at a General Court-Martial, Private (E-2) Fernando P. Cabrera, 501st Special Troops Battalion, 501st Sustainment Brigade, was found guilty of two specifications of abusive sexual contact (Article 120, UCMJ) and one specification of indecent visual recording (Article 120c).  He was sentence to be reduced to the grade of E-1, to be confined for 20 months, and to be discharged with a Bad-Conduct Discharge.

On 29 January 2015, at a General Court-Martial, Private (E1) Romel L. Jackson, 1-15th, 210th FA, 2ID, was found guilty of one specification of assault consummated by battery (Article 128, UCMJ) and one specification of aggravated assault (Article 128).  He was sentenced to be confined for 10 months, and to be discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 29 January 2015, at a Summary Court-Martial, Private (E-2) Timothy W. McCaulley, 52^nd Air Defense Artillery, 35^th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, was found guilty of abusive sexual contact (Article 120, UCMJ), and three specifications of violating a lawful general regulation (Article 92).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to forfeit $773, and to be confined for 30 days.

On 29 January 2015, at a Summary Court-Martial, PFC Dwight A.K. Bradley, 304th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of dereliction of duty (Article 92, UCMJ), and one specification of disobeying a lawful general regulation (Article 92).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to forfeit 2/3 pay for one month, and to be confined for 30 days.

On 30 January 2015, at a General Court-Martial, Specialist Denzel C. James, 1-15th, 210th FA, 2ID, was found guilty of three specifications of assault consummated by battery (Article 128, UCMJ).  He was sentenced to be reduced  to E-1, to be confined for seven months , and to receive a Bad Conduct Discharge.

On 30 January 2015, at a Summary Court-Martial, PFC Tevin D. Watts, 304th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade, was found guilty of one specification of dereliction of duty (Article 92, UCMJ), and two specifications of disobeying a lawful general regulation (Article 92).  He was sentenced to be reduced to E-1, to forfeit 2/3 pay for one month, and to be confined for 30 days.

Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions for January 2015

In Uijeongbu  District Court on 5 January 2015, SSG SSG Joshua L. Tverberg, HSC, HHB, 2d Infantry Division, USAG Red Cloud, was convicted of traffic law violations.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,500,000 Won fine.

In Uijeongbu District Court on 6 January 2015, SGT Jeremy M. Cox, E Btry 6/52d ADA, USAG Casey, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 3,000,000 Won fine.

In Uijeongbu District Court on 6 January 2015, SPC Daniel S. Vega, LRC-RC, 403d AFSB, USAG Casey, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 3,000,000 Won fine.

In Uijeongbu District Court on 12 January 2015, SGT Charles L. Kamuf, HHC, 1/73d Armor, USAG Casey, was convicted of Assault.  His adjudged sentence was a 500,000 Won fine.

In Jeonju District Court on 13 January 2015, A1C Emanuel A. Na, 8th LRS, Kunsan Air Base, was convicted of Indecent Act by Compulsion.  His adjudged sentence was a 2,000,000 Won and registration as a sex offender with the local authority.

In Uijeongbu District Court on 15 January 2015, SSG Jari A. Yarrell, I&S Co, HHB, 8th Army (duty w/G-6), was convicted of Larceny and DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 4,500,000 Won fine.

In Daegu District Court on 15 January 2015, PVT Geoffrey B. Cothran, B Co, 30th ESB, USAG Humphreys, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 3,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Western District Court on 21 January 2015, PFC Eric J. Bradley, F Co, 302d BSB, USAG Humphreys, was convicted of Infliction of Bodily Injury.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 22 January 2015, WO1 Scedric A. Moss, HHC, 65d Medical Brigade, USAG Yongsan, was convicted of traffic law violations.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 23 January 2015, SrA Weston P. Basinger, 113FW, attached to 8FW, Kunsan Air Base, was convicted of Indecent Act by Compulsion.  His adjudged sentence was a 2,000,000 Won fine, sexual violence treatment class for 40 hours and registration as a sex offender with the local authority.

In Suwon District Court on 23 January 2015, CW2 Quentin M. Hagewood, A Co, 3-2 GSAB, USAG Humphreys, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 3,000,000 Won fine.

I don’t have much sympathy for Heather Cho, but to send her to jail for three for this is ridiculous when rapists in South Korea get less time or no time at all:

Prosecutors demanded a three-year prison term for former Korean Air Executive Vice President Heather Cho at her trial over the “nut rage” incident, Monday.

This came after the prosecution concluded she forced a flight from JFK International Airport in New York to change course, an allegation that has a maximum sentence of 10 years.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Let this be lesson to people that you can’t get back at people who dump you by posting sex videos online:

A 25-year-old Kunsan-based airman has been fined for posting a sex video online after recording it without his partner’s permission.

On Jan. 13, the Jeonju District Court fined the dual U.S.-South Korean citizen 2 million won, or about $1,848, and ordered him to attend a 16-hour sexual violence therapy program for breaking a South Korean law concerning violent sexual crimes, according to sentencing documents.

Using his cell phone, the airman shot an approximately 20-second video of himself and a 25-year-old South Korean woman having sex in a hotel in July 2013. He posted the video on two websites in September and October 2014 after becoming angry at the woman.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.