Former gang member gets six years for 2007 shooting
A one-time Calgary gang member is off to prison for firing a gun at two men in retaliation for the slaying of another gang member earlier in the day of Dec. 31, 2007.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Suzanne Bensler imposed a six-year sentence Friday on Vinh Tung Truong, after accepting a joint submission by Crown prosecutor Shane Parker and defence lawyer Simon Lord.
Bensler told court that gun violence needs strong deterrents and denunciation, but recognized defence arguments that Truong was an excellent candidate for rehabilitation.
“He has disassociated himself from gangs and has gone straight,” Lord said. “He had a restaurant business started that survived for 18 months and now he has a legitimate landscaping business.”
Parker said the sentence was in the mid-range but that the facts could have been much worse. “It was only by the grace of God that no one died in the Jeep,” he said.
Truong, 30, pleaded guilty last month to discharging a firearm with intent to endanger life. Court heard that just hours after the shooting Truong was nearly 1,000 kilometres away in Vancouver.
He had managed to escape the scene despite being wounded by return fire, but a DNA match from blood drops police found on the pavement tied him to the crime.
The New Year’s Eve incident was revenge for the slaying hours earlier of Mark Kim, a veteran member of the FOB Killers (FK) gang.
It was part of a long-running conflict between FOB and FK that was responsible for at least 25 homicides between 2002 and 2009.
One of the most violent episodes began that morning when someone shot Kim, 23, as he walked back to his SUV after meeting downtown with a probation officer.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Truong was one of two gunmen who shot at two men connected to the rival FOB gang — Matthew Chubak and Tyler MacDonald. The two targets were unhurt, except for some cuts from broken glass.
Chubak and MacDonald had left a house on Sandringham Road N.W. about 7:30 p.m. and got into a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Two men in dark clothing got out of a nearby van, approaching from two sides of the Jeep, and opened fire.
Altogether, 19 rounds struck the red Jeep, according to the statement of facts.
“Either Chubak or MacDonald must have returned fire as there were two outward moving bullets through the front windshield of the red Jeep,” court heard.
Chubak’s and MacDonald’s hands also tested positive for gunshot residue. A shot fired by one of them hit Truong in the left hip. The van carrying Truong and his accomplice sped away from the scene.
Sometime on Jan. 1, Truong showed up at Vancouver General Hospital with a gunshot wound, claiming he was shot at a rave in that city.
He later admitted to being shot in Calgary. Police from Alberta initially thought Truong had been shot witnessing the shooting of Kim, according to the agreed statement.
In June 2010, DNA confirmed Truong had been at the shooting on Sandringham Road that targeted Chubak and MacDonald.
Chubak and MacDonald escaped injury at Truong’s hands, yet Chubak, 20, was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2009.
MacDonald, 22, was seriously wounded when someone shot him and FOB member Roger Chin as they fuelled up at a northeast gas bar in Feb. 2008. Both men survived, but Chin was shot and killed six months later while driving on Centre Street N.
Truong was originally charged with two counts of attempted murder, possession of a prohibited weapon and careless use of a firearm. He was credited for 15 months of in-house arrest and served four years and nine months.