Four Men Sentenced for Gang-Related Murder and Multistate Drug Trafficking Ring

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Four individuals were sentenced Monday and yesterday to multiple life terms and 26 years in prison for numerous charges relating to a murder, a violent gang enterprise, and a drug trafficking conspiracy operating in Virginia, California, and several other states.

According to court documents, Peter Le, 25, of Dunn Loring, Young Yoo, 26, of Centreville, Joseph Lamborn, 28, of California, and Tony Le, 28, also of California, were members of a violent Northern Virginia Street gang called the Reccless Tigers, which was affiliated with a California gang called the West Side Asian Boyz. The gang, which originated in Centreville in 2011, distributed thousands of pounds of marijuana as well as other THC products, cocaine, ecstasy, and prescription drugs. Many of the gang’s customers were middle and high school students in Northern Virginia and college students at a number of Virginia universities.

According to court records, gang members over a number of years engaged in a persistent pattern of intimidation and retaliation against individuals who did not pay their drug debts and anyone who were believed to have cooperated with law enforcement. Gang members attacked homes – with Molotov cocktails and even engaged in a drive-by shooting – in early morning hours when adults and children were sleeping in their homes in Fairfax, Stafford, and Prince William counties. Further, Peter Le and other gang members vandalized numerous homes and engaged in physical assaults against those who owed drug debts or were suspected of cooperating with law enforcement. 

Reccless Tigers members are also responsible for two homicides. The first homicide occurred at one of the gang’s house parties in April 2016. During the party, one of the guests (the “victim”) began arguing with a gang member. The argument turned into a brawl, during which numerous gang members attacked the victim. The victim was stabbed in the chest during the fight, and he then left the party with friends unaware that he had life-threatening injuries. He died later that night at his home. 

The second homicide occurred on Feb. 1, 2019. The victim, Brandon White, owed Yoo several thousand dollars for marijuana he had obtained when he was a juvenile in and around 2013-14. David Nguyen, a Reccless Tigers gang member, assaulted White over this drug debt on Aug. 8, 2018, which resulted in White sustaining serious injuries that required hospitalization. The Fairfax County Police Department subsequently arrested Nguyen and charged him with robbery and malicious wounding. As Nguyen’s criminal case progressed, gang members became aware that White had been subpoenaed to testify against Nguyen at a preliminary hearing. In response, gang members attempted to pay White in return for him refusing to cooperate in Nguyen’s prosecution. Gang members also threatened to kill White if he testified. White refused the gang’s offer, and he testified against Nguyen on Nov. 19, 2018. Less than two and a half months later, Peter Le, Yoo, and Lamborn carried out gang members’ threats by murdering White.

On Jan. 31, 2019, and continuing into the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 2019, Peter Le, Yoo, Lamborn, and others kidnapped White at a shopping mall in Fairfax County. The conspirators then held White against his will in a vehicle and drove him to a wooded area of Richmond, where Peter Le, Yoo, and Lamborn then repeatedly stabbed White in his face and other areas, and ultimately shot White three times in the back. White was left in the woods and died from his injuries.

Twenty-one defendants have pleaded guilty to federal charges and have been sentenced. Three defendants are fugitives. The table below shows the key sentences.

This was a multi-jurisdictional OCDETF case involving the FBI Washington Field Office, ATF, HSI, IRS, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Fairfax County Police Department, Prince William County Police Department, City of Richmond Police, Montgomery County (MD) Police, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Falls Church Police, City of Alexandria Sheriff’s Office, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Fire Marshal, Prince William County Fire Marshal, Stafford County Fire Marshal, City of Monterey Park (CA) Police, Garden Grove (CA) Police, Anaheim (CA) Police; Trinity County (CA) Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, DEA San Francisco Division – Reading Office, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, California Department of Food & Agriculture, California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Cannabis Control, U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California – Sacramento Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office Central District of California – Santa Ana and Riverside Offices, and the FBI’s Field Offices in Richmond, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Washington Field Office; and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jim Trump, Carina A. Cuellar, and Ryan Bredemeier prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:19-cr-57.