Operator of Chinatown Game Rooms Sentenced To 37 Months Imprisonment

HONOLULU - Senior United States District Court Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced Delvin Phuong Pham, a.k.a. "Kevin Pham," age 49, to 37 months in prison yesterday for operating illegal gambling businesses and conspiring to bribe an agent of an organization receiving federal funds. Pham’s sentence also included forfeiture of over $96,000, personal property and 14 illegal gambling machines. Pham plead guilty as charged on March 8, 2016.

Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that information produced to the court reflected that Pham was operating numerous illegal game rooms in the Chinatown and Kalihi neighborhoods which allowed patrons to illegally gamble through the use of slot machines, "fish" video game machines and Bacarrat card tables. According to records and information obtained during the investigation, Pham received proceeds of between $10,000 to $28,000 per week from his illegal gambling operations. In addition, Pham initiated contact and through four transactions paid over $7,200 in bribes to an HPD officer pretending to be willing to accept the money for the protection of Pham’s illegal gambling operations from law enforcement actions and for the return of illegal gambling machines previously seized during the execution of search warrants.

This case was investigated by an extensive Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation using a network of confidential informants and undercover police officers overseen by Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service and the Honolulu Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Chris A. Thomas prosecuted the case.