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Case 2:19-Cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 1 of 19 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 1 of 19 1 Honorable John C. Coughenour 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 9 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 10 11 12 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, NO. CR19-148JCC Plaintiff, 13 UNITED STATES’ SENTENCING 14 MEMORANDUM v. 15 16 PARK HUNG QUAN, Sentencing Date: October 13, 2020 17 Defendant. 18 19 The United States of America, by and through Brian T. Moran, United States 20 Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and Andrew C. Friedman and Steven T. 21 Masada, Assistant United States Attorneys for said District, files this Sentencing 22 Memorandum in anticipation of the sentencing hearing in this case. Sentencing, which will 23 be held by videoconference, currently is scheduled for October 13, 2020. 24 I. INTRODUCTION 25 The Defendant, Park Hung Quan, comes before the Court for sentencing on his guilty 26 plea to one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, contained in Count 1 of the 27 Indictment, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). For the reasons set forth below, and as set forth in the parties’ Plea Agreement, the United States 28 United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 1 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 2 of 19 1 respectfully recommends that the Court impose a sentence of 48 months in custody, to be 2 followed by three years of supervised release. The United States Probation & Pretrial 3 Services Office (the Probation Office) and Quan also recommend a custodial sentence of 48 4 months. 5 As discussed below, Quan has multiple prior felony convictions for unlawful 6 weapons possession, including a federal conviction and 10-year sentence in this District 7 arising from his participation in a murder-for-hire plot, as well as a near five-year federal 8 sentence for possession of 10 machineguns and a silencer. Undeterred by those convictions 9 and sentences, Quan again amassed an arsenal of firearms, ammunition, and explosive 10 material at his residence in South Seattle. In short, another custodial sentence of some 11 significance is warranted. The United States submits that the jointly-recommended 12 sentence adequately accounts for the various sentencing factors and is appropriate under the 13 totality of the circumstances. 14 II. BACKGROUND 15 A. Quan’s Criminal History 16 Quan has at least three prior felony convictions, all related to the illegal possession or 17 attempted possession of weapons. One of those weapons convictions stemmed from his 18 involvement in an attempted murder-for-hire plot here in Western Washington. More 19 specifically, 20 • In about 1973, while enlisted in the Army and stationed at Fort Lewis 21 in Western Washington, Quan was convicted by court-martial of (i) Soliciting the Theft of 22 Military Weapons and (ii) of Attempting to Steal Military Weapons. According to the 23 Probation Office, Quan was sentenced to five years in custody at Fort Leavenworth. The 24 convictions further resulted in his dishonorable discharge from the military. 25 • On about November 4, 1983, Quan was convicted of Felon in 26 Possession of Explosives, in this District. This conviction arose from Quan’s involvement 27 in a contract murder plot, as described in an old Seattle Times article: 28 United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 2 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 3 of 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 As set forth in the Presentence Report, Quan attached a bomb made from stolen explosives 11 (sticks of dynamite) to the undercarriage of the intended target’s vehicle. The attempted 12 murder failed because the bomb malfunctioned. Quan cooperated with the government 13 against his co-conspirators. As part of his plea arrangement, he was allowed to plead guilty 14 to only the explosives possession charge. After receiving cooperation consideration, Quan 15 received a 120-month (10-year) custodial sentence. 16 • On about May 23, 1991, Quan was convicted of Unlawful Possession 17 of Unregistered Firearm (Machine Gun and Silencers), in the United States District Court 18 for the Southern District of Texas. As set forth in the presentence report, Quan was in 19 possession of ten machineguns and a silencer. He was sentenced to 57 months in custody. 20 Notably, Quan committed this firearm offense on about January 15, 1991 - shortly after his 21 release from Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody and while still on federal supervised release 22 for his 1983 federal felony conviction. 23 B. Quan’s Current Possession of Firearms and Explosive Material 24 The Presentence Report (“PSR”) prepared by the Probation Office and the parties’ 25 Plea Agreement (Dkt. #48), provide an accurate overview of the offense conduct in this 26 case. 27 On July 29, 2019, FBI agents searched Quan’s South Seattle residence pursuant to a 28 search warrant relating to the conduct of one of his housemates, related to computer United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 3 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 4 of 19 1 hacking. Five co-habitants, including Quan, resided in the modest three-bedroom residence. 2 During the course of that search, and a second ensuing search based upon a follow-on 3 warrant, agents located an arsenal of weapons, ammunition, high-capacity magazines, bump 4 stocks, and explosive material, largely unsecured and accessible to his housemates. This 5 was particularly troubling, because the housemate whose computer hacking had led to the 6 search was the subject of one or more restraining orders and had made express threats to 7 harm others and herself. In fact, in late May 2019, this housemate had threatened to “shoot 8 up” the office of a California social media company.1 9 The 12 firearms found in Quan’s bedroom included various assault rifles, a sniper- 10 style rifle, and multiple semiautomatic pistols, as described in detail in the forfeiture section 11 of this Sentencing Memorandum and depicted in the images below: 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 The company is aware of and reported the threat. United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 4 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 5 of 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 5 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 6 of 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 6 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 7 of 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Some of the guns were loaded, including at least one of the semi-automatic assault rifles 14 with the loaded high-capacity magazine shown below: 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Each of these firearms were manufactured outside of the State of Washington. 22 As confirmed through subsequent investigation, Quan began acquiring these 23 weapons after his release from federal custody in late 1997, and he has illegally possessed 24 weapons for well over a decade. For instance, Quan acquired an assault rifle, specifically, 25 the Steyr-Mannlicher, Model Steyr USR, .223 Remington caliber semi-automatic rifle, 26 depicted above, in 2005 or 2006. 27 28 United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 7 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 8 of 19 1 In addition to the dozen firearms, Quan also possessed the following items in his 2 bedroom: 3 Two bump stocks, designed to be attached to semiautomatic rifles in place of 4 conventional stocks, enabling them to fire bullets more rapidly, mimicking a full 5 automatic weapon; 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Two 37mm “flare launchers,” which can be used to shoot a variety of projectiles; 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 8 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S. v. Quan, CR19-148JCC 700 STEWART STREET, SUITE 5220 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 (206) 553-7970 Case 2:19-cr-00148-JCC Document 61 Filed 10/06/20 Page 9 of 19 1 High-capacity magazines and a large cache of ammunition; 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Various receivers and parts for multiple additional unassembled firearms; 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 United States’ Sentencing Memorandum - 9 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY U.S.
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