High-profile Yunnan gang leader sentenced to 25 years in prison

Sun Xiaoguo, a high-profile gang leader who previously served time in prison and was recently convicted of multiple crimes, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Southwest China’s Yunnan province on Friday.

The Yuxi Intermediate People’s Court identified Sun as the ringleader of a 13-member gang, and publicly announced the sentence for organizing criminal activity, and for his opening gambling houses, disturbing public order, illegal detention, intentional injury, obstructing testimony and offering bribes.

Sun was deprived of political rights for five years and all of his private property will be confiscated, the court said in the ruling.

Twelve other defendants were given sentences ranging from 30 months to 15 years for taking part in organized crimes, according to the ruling.

Sun had served prison terms before this time. He was released in 2010 and then detained again on charges related to organized crime this year. After his release, Sun did not stop his criminal involvement. “He organized and led the gang to commit crimes, which have seriously harmed the economic and social order,” the court said.

As he opened and operated gambling houses to obtain illicit money, Sun several times organized gang members to assault others, held illegal gatherings in public places, destroyed automobiles and hired people to illegally collect debts, it said.

Sun asked for loans by illegally detaining and insulting others, and organized fights in public places that led to serious injuries to some participants, it said, adding he also offered bribes to judicial officials and gave false testimony to reduce his responsibilities and hide offenses by the gang members.

Considering Sun’s role in the gang and the seriousness of the effect his behavior had on society, the court said it decided to give him a harsher punishment.

No more information on whether the 13 defendants will appeal to a higher court has been released.

On Oct 14, the Yunnan High People’s Court also retried a 1998 case involving Sun, who had received the death penalty for multiple crimes but later had his sentence reduced to 20 years in prison due to the wrongful application of laws.

Sun was sentenced to death by the Kunming Intermediate People’s Court for rape, insulting women, intentional injury and disturbance of public order. The penalty was then cut to a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve by the high people’s court, and it was further reduced to 20 years.

Sun was freed in April 2010. This means he actually served 12 years and five months in prison.

In July, the high people’s court decided to rehear the case, because after a series of investigations, reviews of files and materials, as well as visits with people involved in the case, the court believed the previous judgment was based on the wrongful application of laws.

A ruling on this earlier case will be announced at a later date, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

Sun received national attention in April when a local media outlet reported several gangs, including one led by Sun, were smashed in a crackdown against organized crime in Kunming.

He later triggered widespread concern over possible corruption in the judicial and prison systems after follow-up stories found Sun was the same man convicted of multiple charges in 1998 who had mysteriously escaped a death sentence and had been living as a free man.