A 39-year-old Los Angeles man has been sentenced to nearly 23 years in federal prison for dozens of felonies that involved extorting Koreatown karaoke businesses using methods seemingly ripped from gangster films.
Woodland Hills resident Daekun Cho, 39, was convicted in March on 57 charges: 55 counts of interference with commerce by extortion, one count of attempted interference with commerce by extortion and one count of carjacking.
Prosecutors say that from 2018 until his arrest in March 2023, Cho “demanded ‘protection’ money from karaoke businesses in Koreatown, as well as from drivers of ‘doumis’ – or hostesses – employed by patrons of the karaoke establishments,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in news release.
Using threats — and at least once, a baseball bat — Cho “physically attacked, threatened, and instilled fear in his victims to induce them to pay him” so-called “protection fees” that ranged between $100 and $1,000 per month either in person or via Venmo, prosecutors said.
In one instance in May 2021, a doumi driver refused to pay Cho, so Cho and an accomplice “beat the victim with baseball bats until knocking him unconscious and then stole his minivan,” prosecutors detailed.
“The victim suffered a broken arm and multiple cuts and bruises,” the release said. “In response, the victim and his business partner closed their karaoke driving company, and the business partner left California.”
In July 2022, a different victim that was dropping two doumis off at a Koreatown karaoke bar was approached by Cho, who appeared to have something in the pocket of his hoodie. Prosecutors say the 39-year-old opened the victim’s car door with his sleeve to not leave any fingerprints and threatened the victim, telling him he was not “permitted to drop off doumis at the establishment.”
“As the victim drove away, he heard gunshots, breaking the car’s glass, a shard of which hit a doumi in the neck,” the release stated.
Yet another karaoke driver who paid Cho in cash for years and then over Venmo, which Cho began accepting during the pandemic, according to the DOJ, was assaulted in Jan. 2023 after he stopped paying.
The 39-year-old violently assaulted the man, stole $1,000 from him and threatened to kill him.
“In text messages shown at trial, Cho threatened many victims that if they did not pay him, they would ‘see the real demon,’ ‘face the consequence,’ ‘get beat up,’ or be ‘punch[ed],’ or Cho would ‘come see u’ or ‘kick u out of ktown,’” the release noted. “One victim testified at trial that Cho pointed a gun at a victim’s head when he refused to comply with Cho’s orders.”
At the time of his arrest, Cho had a 9mm firearm, a Glock 17 firearm, a partially built ghost gun, multiple high-capacity magazines loaded and ammo for a revolver. Prosecutors added that one of the firearms was fully loaded with the safety disengaged.
Cho also had an illegal knife, two metal baseball bats and $20,733 in cash.
“For years, this defendant terrorized merchants in Koreatown with his violent, shake-down schemes and intimidated victims into remaining silent,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “But working with our local partners, we were able to uncover and expose this incorrigible racketeer. Extortionists who seek to profit through violence are on notice that we will use federal tools to hold them accountable and the consequences will be severe.”
Cho was sentenced in August to 270 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $240,167 in restitution, as well as $5,700 in special assessments.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Los Angeles Police Department investigated the case.