A Woodland Hills man was sentenced Friday to 22 years and six months in prison for extorting Koreatown karaoke bar owners and drivers who transport party hostesses, sometimes violently attacking victims who refused to pay, including carjacking one of them after beating him with a baseball bat.
Daekun Cho, 39, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rochato to pay $240,167 in restitution and a special assessment of $5,700, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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Cho was found guilty in March in downtown Los Angeles of 55 federal counts of interference with commerce by extortion, plus one count each of attempted interference with commerce by extortion, and carjacking.
According to evidence presented at a five-day trial, Cho demanded protection money from karaoke businesses in Koreatown, as well as from drivers of doumis -- hostesses -- hired by patrons of the establishments.
Cho extorted money in person and on Venmo monthly from at least 2018 to March 2023 from victims who operated companies or drove people to and from karaoke bars in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles. Evidence showed he physically attacked, threatened, and instilled fear in victims to induce them to pay him. Payments, which Cho called "protection fees," typically ranged from $100 to $1,000 per month.
"For years, this defendant terrorized merchants in Koreatown with his violent, shake-down schemes and intimidated victims into remaining silent," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. "But working with our local partners, we were able to uncover and expose this incorrigible racketeer."
For example, in May 2021, when one of Cho's victims -- a doumi driver - - refused to pay him more money, Cho and his accomplice beat the victim with baseball bats until knocking him unconscious and then stole his minivan. The victim suffered a broken arm and multiple cuts and bruises. In response, the victim and his business partner closed their karaoke driving company, and the business partner left California.
During a separate incident in July 2022, a different victim was dropping two doumis off at a karaoke bar in Koreatown when Cho -- who appeared to have something in his hoodie pocket -- approached the victim's car, opened the door with his sleeve so as to not leave fingerprints, got halfway inside the vehicle, and told the victim that the victim's company was not permitted to drop off doumis. As the victim drove away, he heard gunshots, breaking the car's glass, which hit a doumi in the neck, according to papers filed in L.A. federal court.
In January 2023, Cho assaulted another karaoke driver who for years had paid him in cash and then via Venmo a monthly extortion fee. Cho began accepting electronic extortion payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the victim stopped paying, Cho assaulted the victim, stole $1,000 from him, and threatened to kill him, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that when Cho was arrested, he possessed a 9mm firearm, a Glock 17 caliber firearm, a partially built ghost gun, multiple loaded, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition for a revolver. Cho also possessed illegal knife, two metal baseball bats, and $20,733 in cash.
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