Two men have been arrested for their alleged role in a scheme to obtain valid California driver’s licenses for illegal aliens.

Dae Wahn Ahn, 49, from Diamond Bar and 47-year-old Chong Hwan Kim from Norwalk were arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles.

They are accused of using altered Canadian passports and legitimate Social Security numbers to obtain valid California driver’s licenses for illegal aliens from Asia who traveled to Kern County.

The arrests were the result of a 17-month probe by a multi-agency task force, including U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement and Bakersfield DMV investigators. Investigators said the suspects recruited clients through advertisements in Korean newspapers and by word of mouth.

Investigators said the scheme charged clients $3,500 to $5,000 to obtain the licenses and estimated that more than 200 foreign nationals from Korea and China may have exploited the scheme.

“With these arrests and continued enforcement actions, our message is clear- activities related to fraudulently obtaining a California driver’s license simply will not be tolerated,” said George Valverde, director of the California DMV.

Ahn and Kim were arraigned in Bakersfield Thursday on multiple felony counts. The two suspects are both Korean nationals who are in the U.S. illegally after overstaying their original visas.  [ABC 7 News]

Here is more details about the case where they were selling these fake licenses to Korean and Chinese illegals.  Why this case was being brought up on the radio was because these guys received 3 months in jail and will face deportation proceedings.  The argument was that the sentencing was too light considering the amount of fraud they committed.  If you Google driver’s license fraud in California it is amazing how many people have been arrested for this crime to include a number of DMV employees in the state.  Is it any wonder why Republicans complain about voter fraud when all these illegal immigrants with fake driver’s licenses can register to vote in the state?

A three-judge panel on Wednesday sentenced a U.S. soldier to six years in prison for raping a South Korean teenager in September.

Pvt. Kevin Robinson was found guilty of raping the 17-year-old at her residence in Seoul after a night of drinking. He also was convicted of larceny for stealing the victim’s laptop.

Robinson, 21, who was stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, shook his head as the verdict was read in the Seoul Central District Court. In addition to his prison sentence, personal data about Robinson will be available in South Korea on a media network for 10 years — a significant punishment in a country where privacy is so strictly protected that the names of criminals are often not released to the public, and their faces are blurred out in media images.

The head judge said the court considered the victim’s age, the fact that she was intoxicated, the lack of Robinson having any previous convictions in South Korea and the lack of brutality against the victim, when deciding the sentence. The judge said the length of the sentence was in line with guidelines recommended by a South Korean Supreme Court committee.

Robinson’s attorney said he does not know yet if the private will file an appeal within the seven days allowed by law.  [Stars & Stripes]

I really can’t get worked up about this case like I did with the PFC Feldman case who was clearly innocent of rape but convicted anyway.  This is because Robinson after leaving the girls apartment went back and then robbed her of her laptop, which doesn’t mean he is a rapist but it is an indication he is a major dirtbag and I have a hard time defending dirtbags.

Anyway this conviction and sentencing of 6 years is unsurprisingly already got commenters on Stars & Stripes pointing out how unfair that Robinson got 6 years and the Korean who raped a US soldier in Uijongbu received a 3.5 year sentence that was reduced to 1.5 years.  This same argument was made with the Pvt. Flippin rape case where he was sentenced to 10 years.  If people want to make comparisons I don’t think the Uijongbu case is a good example point out.  I say this because the Uijongbu rape case was strictly rape while both the Flippin and Robinson cases also involved theft which adds time on to a sentence.  A soldier sentenced in 2008 for rape faced more scrutiny over whether or not he stole a cell phone during the crime than for the rape itself simply because of the possibility of an increased sentence.  Strangely the theft charge in that case carried more jail time than the rape charge.

Besides the additional theft charge Robinson also did not plead guilty, beg forgiveness, or offer a compensation payment.  This is the opposite of what the Uijongbu rapist did who pleaded guilty, begged forgiveness, and blamed being drunk for his crime.  Thus this is why there is a difference in sentencing.  If people really want to compare sentences compare Robinson to Flippin, compared to Flippin, Robinson actually got off pretty light with a 6 year sentence.

For those that really want to make comparisons between rape sentences the best example to point out would be to look back at the 2004 case where a US soldier who just arrived in country was raped by an Incheon taxi driver who then had his sentenced overturned on appeal because the soldier didn’t resist enough to constitute rape.  Such outrageous court decisions though are not solely limited to US soldiers, there has been plenty of other outrageous rape sentences in Korea that it has drawn the outrage of the public enough where special laws were implemented to give harsher sentences.  So I just don’t see where these soldiers are getting screwed on their sentences, it appears to me the judges are giving them fair sentences based on Korean law.  However, I am not a lawyer so I would very interested to hear what some of your lawyer types who read this blog think.   Ultimately though before complaining about 6 years for the rape and theft convictions it may be wise to remember that it could of been much worse in an American military court where for example a Camp Jackson NCO received a sentence of 30 years in a US military jail for raping a KATUSA.

The bottom line is that with the harsher sentencing guidelines and focus on GI crime servicemembers should not be putting themselves into any potential situation that could expose them to a rape allegation.  Going to the apartment of a drunk 17 year old Korean girl, having sex with her, and then stealing her computer is a good way to get convicted of a rape crime whether you did it or not.  Robinson now has 6 years to think about it.

A U.S. Marine from North Miami was arrested Tuesday on charges of selling the stolen identities of dozens of fellow soldiers in Afghanistan to a Broward County woman recently convicted of filing false income-tax returns in their names.

Jobson Cenor, a 2007 graduate of North Miami Senior High, was arrested at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina by agents for the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

His case is the latest twist among an ever-growing number of tax-fraud schemes prosecuted in South Florida.

Cenor, 22, is accused of selling the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of fellow Marines to Dorothy Boulin, a Coral Springs woman convicted in a related case of seeking to collect tens of thousands of dollars in the names of Marines and other tax-fraud victims.

Boulin told FBI agents that she and Cenor “agreed to split the proceeds from the fraudulent filings,” according to a criminal complaint.- Miami Herald

The IRS and FBI need to finally get off their asses and start cracking down on this. How hard can it be to trace the person who’s using another person’s ss #? They’re filing for tax refunds and if they’re doing that, somebody is issuing W2′s. So how about arresting them? You don’t know how many stories I’ve read like this one of late.

Personal note- I learned in 2010 that somebody is using my SS number. Right now my wife and I are still waiting for our 2010 tax refund.

A young cook returning home from work was shot dead in cold blood yesterday by a heartless thug — who stole his iPhone but ignored his wallet full of cash.

Hwangbum Yang, 26, had finished his shift at The Modern, a restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art, and was only two blocks from his apartment in the Riverdale section of The Bronx when the killer attacked at about 12:32 a.m.

Yang, a culinary-school graduate who taught Sunday school, was sent sprawling facedown after being blasted in the chest.

The thug then kicked his body over and rummaged through his pockets, a witness said.

“He stopped and sort of squished something with his foot, and then I realized it was a person because he lifted [Yang’s] arms up a little,” said the witness. “He did it so casually — that’s what is so scary.”

The witness said the thug, who was wearing a gray hoodie, made his getaway in a waiting silver minivan. He was still at large last night.

The slaying cut short the South Korean immigrant’s dream of reaching the top of the culinary world.

“He dreamed of becoming a famous chef here in New York so that he could go back to Korea and be very successful,” his sobbing mother, Hyun Sub Yang, 50, said through a translator. [NY Post]

First of all my condolences to Yang’s mother.  What a senseless way to lose your son.  If you are going to rob the guy why shoot him?

Over at Kushibo’s site where I first saw this story he discusses this as a gun control issue and I think gun control has little to do with this because a thug like this is going to get a gun whether they are banned or not.  Drugs are banned and yet the US is awash with drugs and the same thing would happen if anyone tried to ban guns; people willing to break the law are still going to get them.  I think it will be interesting to see what the background is of the guy that committed the murder if he is caught.  Has this person been in and out of jail with the legal system unwilling to lock him away for a long time for prior crimes until he murders someone?

A U.S. soldier accused of raping a South Korean teenager told judges on Wednesday that the two had consensual oral sex, but they did not have intercourse.

“I did not rape anyone,” Pvt. Kevin Robinson, 21, said in a final statement to the Seoul Central District Court, where he is being tried on charges of rape and larceny. According to South Korean police, Robinson allegedly attacked the 17-year-old in her residence in Seoul on Sept. 17 following a night of drinking.

Robinson, who is stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, admitted on Wednesday to taking a laptop from the teen’s residence, but said he later lost it. He eventually gave South Korean police money so the teen could buy a new one, saying “it was the right thing to do.”

An initial hearing in the trial was closed to the press on the head judge’s orders because the alleged victim did not want to give her testimony in public.

Both the prosecution and defense admitted during closing arguments Wednesday that there was no direct evidence in the case. However, prosecutor Yoon Byung-joon said there was enough circumstantial evidence for a conviction, including items recovered from the scene that were stained with blood and semen. No semen, however, was found on the alleged victim , possibly because she showered immediately after the incident, he said.

He also said the teen was a virgin who was “dead drunk” during the alleged attack.

Yoon, who said the alleged victim did not remember the incident, asked that Robinson be sentenced to seven years in prison.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link but I like how the girl says she is drunk and can’t remember anything but knows that she was raped.  It will be interesting to see how this turns out because I am not sure if under Korean law having oral sex with someone that is incapacitated is a crime?  I have seen a soldier go down for this under UCMJ in the past though.

The owner of a Hooker Hill brothel testified Tuesday that she believes the U.S. soldier charged with burning down her business in November did so unintentionally and does not want him to be punished.

Lee Seo-yoon told the Seoul Central District Court that she feels sorry for the soldier, Pfc. Marcos Pedraza-Pascual, because he is young and doesn’t have the money to pay for the damages to Tiger Tavern. The Itaewon-area establishment has been off-limits to U.S. troops since 2003 because of its suspected involvement in prostitution and human trafficking.

Lee also said that the 21-year-old Pedraza-Pascual has apologized for the fire, which began late on the night of Nov. 14 or early the next morning.

Pedraza-Pascual, who is stationed at K-16 Air Base, testified last month that he drank 10 beers before accidentally knocking over a lit candle that was sitting on a bed. After realizing he had started the fire, the soldier said, he ran out of the building to look for a fire extinguisher, and didn’t return.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link but it appears the bar owner probably got her insurance payout and has no need to see this guy go to jail.  This case though serves as yet another perfect example of why people should stay out of off limits establishments.

 Nine teenagers have been detained on suspicion of beating a teenage girl to death and burying her body in a park, police said Wednesday.

The nine, including six high school students, are accused of brutally beating to death the 18-year-old with blunt weapons in an apartment in Goyang, north of Seoul, on April 5, for supposedly badmouthing them to others and refusing to heed their instructions, the Ilsan Police Station said.

The teenagers are also suspected of burying the victim’s body in a neighborhood park the following morning, the police said.

“We were going to punish (the victim) for speaking ill of us and not listening (to our words),” one of the suspects, identified only as Koo, 17, was quoted as saying during the investigation.

The police plan to request arrest warrants for five of the suspects.  [Yonhap via the Marmot's Hole]

Seoul police announced on the 11th that they have arrested 28-year old Mr. K, who is from The Netherlands, on charges of growing and selling marijuana and ecstasy, as well as Mr. Y, an American soldier, on charges of buying the drugs.

According to police, Mr. K is accused of growing 45 marijuna plants using lights and fans placed in his home in Itaewon beginning in February.

Mr. K, who teaches Dutch to Koreans working in the Netherlands Embassy, is also accused of selling over 20 ecstasy pills to Mr. Y beginning in February. Prosecutors are investigating to determine whether he may have committed other crimes, as he appears to have been an expert in illegal drug selling considering his experience with marijuana and ecstasy.  [Asian Correspondent]

Well it looks like if this soldier is convicted the US military will be able to at least get rid of one more of the 50,000 soldiers it needs to cut.

The man who murdered and dismembered a 28-year old woman in Suwon – whom police failed to track down for 13 hours after she called 112 to say she was abducted – may be a serial killer, according to an audit team investigating the murder and police’s handling of the case.

The audit team, assigned by Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, is also uncovering more details of the police’s botching of the hunt and their attempts to conceal it from the public.

CCTV footage recovered from one of six cameras around Jidong Elementary School in Suwon, which is about 60 meters away from the crime scene, shows the suspect’s initial abduction of the victim.

At 10:32 p.m. on April 1, a CCTV camera at the back gate of the school captured the image of a man standing behind a telephone pole. The man attacks the victim from behind after she passes the pole and then drags her away. In the 13-second video, the man acts quickly and decisively.

The police said the suspect, a 42-year old Chinese of Korean descent surnamed Woo, behaved like a serial killer in the video.

The police say Woo testified that he strangled his victim around 5:00 a.m.

Police finally found Woo in his home at 11:00 a.m. on April 2 while in the act of dismembering the victim’s body for disposal. They also found five or six tools, which they are now testing for remains of any previous victims.

“It looks like the suspect has carefully planned a murder,” professor Pyo Chang-won of Korean National Police University told the JoongAng Ilbo.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read a lot more at the link but the police cover up of this crime was as incompetent as their response to the victims telephone call for help that went unheeded for 13 hours.

Results of USFK Courts-Martial for February 2012

At a Summary Court-Martial on 22 February 2012, PVT David C. Lehman, 106th Medical Detachment (VS), 65th Medical Brigade, APO AP 96205 was found guilty of four (4) specifications of failure to report to duty, in violation of Article 86, UCMJ; one (1) specification of disobeying an superior commissioned officer, in violation of Article 90, UCMJ; four (4) specifications of disobeying a non-commissioned officer, in violation of Article 91, UCMJ; and one (1) specification of making a false official statement in violation of Article 107, UCMJ.  He was sentenced to reduction to the grade of Private (E1), forfeiture of $994.00 pay per month for one month, and confinement for 20 days.

At a Summary Court-Martial on 22 February, SPC Charlotte Greer, 19th PC, 501st STB, 501st SBDE, 19th ESC, APO AP 96205 was found guilty of wrongful use of a controlled substance in violation of Article 112a, UCMJ; wrongful distribution of a controlled substance, in violation of Article 112a, UCMJ. She was sentenced to reduction to E-1, forfeiture of $994 per month for 1 month, 45 days of extra duty and 45 days of restriction.

At a Summary Court-Martial on 24 February 2012, SGT Adrian S. Orrostieta, HSC, HHB, APO AP 96205 was found guilty of one (1) specification of violating the USFK curfew policy on 11 Nov 2011, in violation of Article 92, UCMJ; one (1) specification of fleeing apprehension from the Military Police, in violation of Article 95, UCMJ; three (3) specifications of making a false official statement, in violation of Article 107; one (1) specification of assaulting a Military Police personnel, in violation of of Article 128, UCMJ; and two (2) specifications of wrongfully impeding the Military Police in an official investigation, in violation of Article 134, UCMJ.  He was sentenced to reduction to the grade of Specialist (E-4), forfeiture of $1575.00 pay per month for one month, and restriction to the limits of USAG Yongsan for 1 month.

At a Summary Court-Martial on 24 February 2012, PFC Brandon S. Hache, D Co., 1BSTB, 1BCT, APO AP 96224, was found guilty of possessing spice, in violation of Article 92, UCMJ; using spice, in violation of Article 92, UCMJ; huffing air propellant, in violation of Article 92, UCMJ; purchasing spice, in violation of Article 92, UCMJ; and possessing drug paraphernalia, in violation of Article 134, UCMJ.  He was sentenced to reduction to Private (E1), and forfeiture of $944.00 pay per month for one month.

Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions for February 2012

In Daegu District Court on 11 January 2012, CW3 Reynaldo Nunez, HHC, 501st Sustainment Brigade, USAG-Daegu (Carroll), was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,500,000 Won fine.

In Daegu District Court on 3 February 2012, PVT Joseph J. Finley, D Btry, 2-1st ADA, USAG-Daegu (Carroll), was convicted of Bodily Injury Resulting from Rape.  His adjudged sentence was imprisonment for 3 years, not suspended.

In Uijeongbu District Court on 6 February 2012, SSG Rodger T. Battle, HSC, HHB, 8th Army, USAG-Yongsan, was convicted of traffic law violations.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 22 February 2012, SFC Andee K. Chapman, HHB, 8th Army (G-3), USAG-Yongsan, was convicted of Hit and Run.  His adjudged sentence was a 5,000,000 Won fine.

In Suwon District Court on 24 February 2012, SSgt Benjamin L. Binion, 5th RS, Osan Air Base, was convicted of DUI.  His adjudged sentence was a 1,000,000 Won fine.