Peter Chong (, aka "Uncle" Chong, born in 1943) is an organized crime figure previously convicted of

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

who has been described by prosecutors as the former leader of the

Wo Hop To Wo Hop To, or WHT ( zh, j=wo hap tou, t=和合圖), is a triad group based in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The name translates to "Harmoniously United Association", or "Harmonious Union Plan", and is thought to have been founded in 1908 in Sai Ying Pu ...

syndicate in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Criminal activities

Chong came to the U.S. from

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1982, ostensibly to start a

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

company, but was accused in court documents of becoming the boss of the

(和合圖) crime syndicate in northern California, a gang involved in

loan sharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of collection, and generally operates outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, aggressive, and extortionate ...

and extorting

protection money A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...

from restaurants and

gambling den Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elem ...

s. Witnesses testified that Chong declared he controlled Chinatown. A US Senate report in December 1992 stated "the Wo Hop To is now in control of virtually all Asian organized crime in the Bay Area." Chong sent an underling, Dai Kung Luu, to Boston to establish a foothold on the East Coast in 1991. This was a first step in an effort to form an umbrella organization called Tien Ha Wui ("Whole Earth Association") that would dominate crime in Chinatowns throughout the U.S. After the underling was killed in the

Boston Chinatown massacre The Boston Chinatown massacre or Tyler Street Massacre was a gang-related shooting in which five men were killed execution-style in a Chinatown, Boston, Boston Chinatown gambling den in the early morning hours of January 12, 1991. A sixth victim ...

, prosecutors alleged that Chong along with Wayne Kwong and Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow were behind a failed plot to murder Boston Chinese underground leader Bike Ming. Chong, Chow and seventeen others were indicted on forty-eight counts of racketeering in 1993. Chong had already left for Hong Kong before his indictment, following an arrest in 1992 on unrelated gambling charges; although he was arrested in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

in October 1992, he was released two months later, with local authorities stating the 1993 indictment did not provide adequate evidence that Chong was the mastermind. The indictment was amended in 1995, and Chong was arrested in Hong Kong in 1998. After exhausting his appeals, Chong was

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

to the U.S. in 2000.

Arrests, convictions, and appeals

In 2002, Chong was found guilty of

murder-for-hire Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

, and

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

, and was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison. The prosecution was aided by the testimony of Chong's former lieutenant Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow. The

murder for hire Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

conviction was overturned in 2005 by the

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the United States courts of appeals, U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, U.S. district cou ...

due to a lack of monetary payment to the killers, evidence of proof of involvement was taken to support additional prison time for the

charge. He was thus sentenced to 11 and a half years on the remaining charges. In a separate memorandum, the 9th Circuit upheld the extortion conviction and sufficiency of evidence presented during his trial. Chong was released from prison on July 29, 2008.

References

External links

*Gangland Episode 1

- History (U.S. TV channel), History Channel

Gangland (TV series) ''Gangland'' is a television series that aired on the History Channel. ''Gangland'' explores the history of some of America's more notorious gangs. It premiered on November 1, 2007, with an episode about the Aryan Brotherhood. The theme song was ...

episode focuses on these events. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Peter Living people 1943 births 20th-century American criminals American male criminals Hong Kong crime bosses American crime bosses American gangsters of Chinese descent Triad members People convicted of racketeering American extortionists Hong Kong emigrants to the United States American prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government People extradited from Hong Kong People extradited to the United States Foreign nationals imprisoned in the United States Criminals from the San Francisco Bay Area

Criminal activities

Arrests, convictions, and appeals

See also

References

External links