| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 20, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Joseph Hokai Tang was sentenced today to 37 months in prison, and ordered to pay $436,800 in restitution, for committing mail and wire fraud in connection with the consignment and sale of fine violins, violas, and bows.
On May 5, 2008, Mr. Tang pleaded guilty to all ten counts of the Indictment pursuant to a plea agreement with the government. In pleading guilty, Mr. Tang admitted that he executed a scheme to defraud persons who had provided him with fine violins, violas, and bows that he agreed to sell for them on consignment. Mr. Tang admitted that he obtained the instruments and money by entering into consignment agreements that he did not intend to honor. He also admitted that he falsely represented the condition and/or authenticity of the instruments to prospective buyers in order to sell them. In entering his pleas of guilty, Mr. Tang further admitted that the government could prove that he defrauded at least ten victims through his scheme.
Mr. Tang, 29, of Eugene, Oregon, was indicted by a federal Grand Jury on November 6, 2007. He was charged with two counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2, and eight counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§1341 and 2.
U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel imposed the sentence today following a hearing at which one victim and another individual spoke. In addition to ordering Mr. Tang to serve 37 months in prison, Judge Patel ordered Mr. Tang to serve three years on supervised release following his release from custody. At the sentencing hearing, Judge Patel found that the defendant abused his position of trust that the victims had placed in him, in part because of his status as a violinist. Because the defendant is currently in the United States on a visitor’s visa, the defendant was remanded to custody after sentencing, and will begin serving his sentence immediately.
Christina Hua is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Wilson Wong. The prosecution is the result of a two and a half year investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Further Information:
Case# CR-07-00703-1 MHP
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